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Glite Dictionary
General Assembly

General Assembly

53 3.9
A group of representatives from every United Nations country where each country has one vote
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɛnərəl əˈsɛmblɪ/
translation icon : Asamblea General
  • Finally, in 2006, the UN General Assembly replaced the commission with the Human Rights Council.
  • UN General Assembly
  • United Nations General Assembly
  • U.N. General Assembly

It's all part of the annual UN General Assembly, or UNGA.

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Examples

  • The President underscored this policy again before the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2012.

    Academic text (2013)

  • United Nations General Assembly supported partition between what it called a Jewish state and an Arab state.

    Lex Fridman

  • Well, we could call a special meeting of the General Assembly.

    The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

  • That was the first United Nations General Assembly... that was held in London, right?

    The Fury (1978)

  • You heard her at the UN General Assembly say the same thing.

  • Because this is day one of the UN General Assembly or here in New York.

  • There was a General Assembly resolution to that effect past late last year.

  • The issue of legitimacy was raised repeatedly in the United Nations General Assembly during the 1980s.

    Academic text (1990)

  • He will be here next Friday, exercising his right to speak before the General Assembly, where he will announce a new programme of democratic reform.

    The Interpreter (2005)

  • The representatives from various countries gathered at the General Assembly to discuss global issues.

Synonyms

general assembly
vsGeneral Assembly
  • Formal
4 4.9

A group of representatives who make and change laws for a state or organization

is focused on debating and representing all member states rather than making laws
deliberative assembly
vsGeneral Assembly
  • Formal
7.8

A formal meeting where members discuss and vote on issues

is the main United Nations body made of representatives from all member states

Surface Forms

General Assembly singular
General Assemblies plural

Morphology

general + assembly

The phrase combines 'general' (broad, concerning all) with 'assembly' (a gathering), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it means a meeting of all members or a main representative gathering. This compositional logic is common across many languages (e.g., Asamblea General, Assemblée générale), so the basic institutional sense is readily derivable though exact reference to the UN body may need contextual cueing.

Etymology

General Assembly comes from the words general (meaning 'including everyone') and assembly (a meeting of people). So it means the main meeting where all members take part, which is why the United Nations' General Assembly is the main body where every country has a vote.