assemble

Etymology

From Middle English assemblen, from Old French assembler (“to assemble”), from Medieval Latin assimulāre (“to bring together”), from ad- +‎ simulō (“copy, imitate”), from similis (“like, similar”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“together, one”). Doublet of assimilate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈsɛmbl̩/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: as‧sem‧ble

Verb

assemble (third-person singular simple present assembles, present participle assembling, simple past and past participle assembled)

1. (transitive) To put together.

   He assembled the model ship.

   • 1918, The Industrial Education Survey of the City of New York, page 44:

     The handman reads copy and assembles type by hand, including straight composition, tables and display.

   • 2019 March 6, Alexis C. Madrigal, “The Servant Economy”, in The Atlantic‎:

     This micro-generation of Silicon Valley start-ups did two basic things: It put together a labor pool to deliver food or clean toilets or assemble IKEA bookshelves, and it found people who needed those things done.

2. (transitive, intransitive) To gather as a group.

   The parents assembled in the school hall.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Thither he assembled all his train.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Kings viii:2:

     All the men of Israel assembled themselves.

   • 2008 December 9, Jeff Jacoby, “Skepticism on climate change”, in The International Herald Tribune‎, →ISSN:

     Actually, no. The scientists and scholars Heartland is assembling are not members of the gloom-and-doom chorus.

3. (computing) To translate from assembly language to machine code.

Anagrams

• beamless

Pronunciation

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Verb

assemble

1. inflection of assembler:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative