convent

noun (C) a building or set of buildings where nuns live -see also: convent school convention noun

1 (C, U) behaviour and attitudes that most people in a society consider to be normal and right: The handshake is a social convention. | She went against all convention and married outside her religion. | by convention: By convention, the bride's father gives her away at her wedding.

-see habit

2 (C) a formal agreement, especially between countries, about particular rules or behaviour: the European convention on human rights

-compare pact, treaty

3 (C) a large formal meeting for people who belong to the same profession or organization: a teacher's convention

4 (C) a method or style often used in literature, art, the theatre etc to achieve a particular effect: The omniscient narrator is a convention of the nineteenth century novel.

conventional adjective

1 (only before noun) a conventional object or way of doing something is of a type that has been used or available for a long time and is considered the usual type: The water purifying system fits neatly under a conventional sink unit.

2 always following the opinions and behaviour that most people in a society consider to be normal, right, and socially acceptable but sometimes slightly boring: Her opinions are rather narrow and conventional.

(+ in): John is fairly conventional in his tastes. -opposite unconventional, -see habit

3 the conventional wisdom the opinion that most people consider to be normal and right: This idea has become part of the conventional wisdom of a whole generation of educationalists.

4 (only before noun) conventional weapons and wars are not nuclear ones

5 conventional medicine the usual form of medicine practised in most European and North American countries; western medicine

- conventionally adverb - conventionality noun (U)