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conventional - 4 dictionary results

con⋅ven⋅tion⋅al

  [kuhn-ven-shuh-nl]
Use conventional in a Sentence
–adjective
1. conforming or adhering to accepted standards, as of conduct or taste: conventional behavior.
2. pertaining to convention or general agreement; established by general consent or accepted usage; arbitrarily determined: conventional symbols.
3. ordinary rather than different or original: conventional phraseology.
4. not using, making, or involving nuclear weapons or energy; nonnuclear: conventional warfare.
5. Art.
a. in accordance with an accepted manner, model, or tradition.
b. (of figurative art) represented in a generalized or simplified manner.
6. of or pertaining to a convention, agreement, or compact.
7. Law. resting on consent, express or implied.
8. of or pertaining to a convention or assembly.
Origin:
1575–85; < LL conventiōnālis. See convention, -al 1

Related forms:
con⋅ven⋅tion⋅al⋅ist, noun
con⋅ven⋅tion⋅al⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. See formal 1 . 2. usual, habitual, customary.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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con·ven·tion·al   (kən-věn'shə-nəl)   
adj.  
  1. Based on or in accordance with general agreement, use, or practice; customary: conventional symbols; a conventional form of address.
  2. Conforming to established practice or accepted standards; traditional: a conventional church wedding.
    1. Devoted to or bound by conventions to the point of artificiality; ceremonious.
    2. Unimaginative; conformist: longed to escape from their conventional, bourgeois lives.
  4. Represented, as in a work of art, in simplified or abstract form.
  5. Law Based on consent or agreement; contractual.
  6. Of, relating to, or resembling an assembly.
  7. Using means other than nuclear weapons or energy: conventional warfare; conventional power plants.
con·ven'tion·al·ism n., con·ven'tion·al·ist n., con·ven'tion·al·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Conventional

Con*ven"tion*al\, a. [L. conventionalis: cf. F. conventionnel.]

1. Formed by agreement or compact; stipulated.

Conventional services reserved by tenures upon grants, made out of the crown or knights' service. --Sir M. Hale.

2. Growing out of, or depending on, custom or tacit agreement; sanctioned by general concurrence or usage; formal. "Conventional decorum." --Whewell.

The conventional language appropriated to monarchs. --Motley.

The ordinary salutations, and other points of social behavior, are conventional. --Latham.

3. (Fine Arts) (a) Based upon tradition, whether religious and historical or of artistic rules. (b) Abstracted; removed from close representation of nature by the deliberate selection of what is to be represented and what is to be rejected; as, a conventional flower; a conventional shell. Cf. Conventionalize, v. t.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : conventional
Spanish: convencional,
German: herkömmlich,
Japanese: 型にはまった
More Translations »

Main Entry: con·ven·tion·al
Pronunciation: k&n-'ven-ch&-n&l
Function: adjective
1 : based on, settled by, or formed by agreement : CONTRACTUAL —compare JUDICIAL 2, LEGAL 2c
2 : of, like, or relating to a convention or public meeting
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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