a convention of a group of (usually and originally science fiction) fans; cf. -con suffix
Three more cheers for the 4 WS-F Con.
Coming together of fans from various localities, usually at a call issued by some organization or local group. And the designation is used as a combining word to make up some distinctive name for the brawl—either ‘con’ itself or its completions, -vention, -ference, -clave, or -fabulation. These words are not equivalent, for convention usually refers to the principal annual gathering; other formal get-togethers are conferences or conclaves.
You here for the con?
If you want to know who those people are you keep running into at cons…you keep reading Locus.
Karl…was far more interested in New Orleans than in the con itself.
Noreascon II was the best run and most enjoyable Worldcon I've attended, and I managed to get to much more of the con than last year.
For many years, I've tried to be a simonpure fan, never charging for a fanzine…refusing payment for the occasional contribution to a large con’s program book.
A public venue was naturally out of the question; and very few fen owned homes large enough to house even a small con.
Many highly-respected and/or best-selling authors got only a few votes—no one wanted to meet frequent con-goer Jack Chalker, for instance, though he got votes in all three of the other categories.
Not Fandom. I was reading the true quill long before I knew about Fandom and cons and such.
There’s plenty of people out there who read sf and fantasy as part of a balanced reading diet and who don’t think of themselves as fans, and who'd probably go pale at the thought of spending a weekend at a con.
Ten years ago, Tony Luke and I were simply a couple of fan-boy Hitchiker’s Guide fans going to cons and writing for fanzines.
I'm convinced that, largely through cons, science fiction deserves to be considered a literary movement, wherein each writer interacts with others.
I just wanted to go back to the hotel room and get out of these heels and take a hot shower to get all of the con grime off me.
antedating 1942
Planet Stories
Geri Sullivan submitted a 1959 cite from Fancyclopedia II.
Jesse Sheidlower submitted a 1944 cite from the original Fancyclopedia.
Fred Galvin submitted a cite for "Pacificon" from a 1975 reprint of Anthony Boucher's "Rocket to the Morgue": Jeff Prucher verified this in its 1942 first publication.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1942 cite for "con" as a standalone word, from a letter by Larry Shaw to Planet Stories.
Fred Galvin submitted a cite for "Chicon" from an editorial in Astounding Stories for October 1940
We would like to get examples from the 1930s, as in the names of various conventions/conferences held at that time (e.g. Chicon).
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2020 cite from Ashley Poston.
Added to the OED in September 2002 with an earliest cite of 1944
Last modified 2021-02-04 23:20:28
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.