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con·ven·tion·al (kən-vĕnshə-nəl)
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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.
3.
a. Devoted to or bound by conventions to the point of artificiality; ceremonious.
b. 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 energy: conventional power plants.
8. Using means other than nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons: conventional warfare.
con·vention·al·ism n.
con·vention·al·ist n.
con·vention·al·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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