conventicle

noun

con·​ven·​ti·​cle kən-ˈven-ti-kəl 

1

: assembly, meeting

2

: an assembly of an irregular or unlawful character

3

: an assembly for religious worship

especially : a secret meeting for worship not sanctioned by law

4

: meetinghouse

conventicler

kən-ˈven-ti-k(ə-)lər 

noun

Did you know?

Conventicle comes to us from Latin conventiculum and ultimately from convenire, meaning "to assemble." Conventiculum means "place of assembly" (it was applied in particular to Roman Christian meetinghouses) or simply "assembly." The English "conventicle" also originally meant "assembly." It then developed an application to illegal meetings, which, in turn, led to the arrival of a sense describing secret meetings for worship in a religion proscribed by law. And finally, "conventicle" developed a sense of "meetinghouse," echoing the earlier use of "conventiculum."

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin conventiculum, diminutive of conventus assembly

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!