[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/convention/)

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# convention

noun (a convention, conventions; convention, uncountable)

«convention» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. The usual or accepted way of doing something; a custom or rule people follow. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/convention/#m1)
2. A large meeting of people with the same interest or job (a comic convention). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/convention/#m2)
3. An official agreement between countries (the Geneva Convention). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/convention/#m3)
4. (maths, writing) A standard rule everyone agrees to use, such as writing numbers left to right. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/convention/#m4)

### In the lessons

In maths: conventions such as the order of operations (BODMAS/BIDMAS/PEMDAS) and labelling axes x and y. In English: writing conventions like capital letters and full stops. In everyday life: comic conventions, conventions of politeness. Phrases: by convention, break with convention.

### Examples

- By convention, we write the x-axis across the page. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/convention/#x1)
- Spelling and punctuation are writing conventions. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/convention/#x2)
- We dressed up for the comic convention. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/convention/#x3)
- Shaking hands is a convention in many countries. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/convention/#x4)
- The Geneva Convention protects prisoners of war. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/convention/#x5)
- The writer broke with convention and used no capital letters. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/convention/#x6)
- The possibility of the introduction of an archaic formula which had become a convention of folk-telling cannot be left out of account. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/convention/#x7)

### Note

Adjective: conventional (usual, ordinary). In maths, conventions are agreed rules, not proven facts; following them means everyone gets the same answer.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «convention» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/convention/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«convention» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/convention.html) on Mova free.