'Conventicle' definitions:

Definition of 'conventicle'

(from WordNet)
noun
A secret unauthorized meeting for religious worship
noun
A building for religious assembly (especially Nonconformists, e.g., Quakers) [syn: conventicle, meetinghouse]

Definition of 'Conventicle'

From: GCIDE
  • Conventicle \Con*ven"ti*cle\, n. [L. conventiculum, dim. of conventus: cf. F. conventicule. See Convent, n.]
  • 1. A small assembly or gathering; esp., a secret assembly. [1913 Webster]
  • They are commanded to abstain from all conventicles of men whatsoever. --Ayliffe. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. An assembly for religious worship; esp., such an assembly held privately, as in times of persecution, by Nonconformists or Dissenters in England, or by Covenanters in Scotland; -- often used opprobriously, as if those assembled were heretics or schismatics. [1913 Webster]
  • The first Christians could never have had recourse to nocturnal or clandestine conventicles till driven to them by the violence of persecution. --Hammond. [1913 Webster]
  • A sort of men who . . . attend its [the curch of England's] service in the morning, and go with their wives to a conventicle in the afternoon. --Swift. [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'Conventicle'