conventicle
UK /kənˈvɛntɪk(ə)l/ · US /kənˈvɛn(t)ək(ə)l/ noun, verb
Forms conventicles conventicling conventicled
- noun A secret, unauthorized or illegal religious meeting.
- noun The place where such a meeting is held.
- noun A Quaker meetinghouse.
- verb To hold a secret, unauthorized or illegal religious meeting.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Late Middle English conventicle, conventicule (“a gathering, meeting (especially a secret or unlawful one); (derogatory) a church”), from Latin conventiculum (“assembly; meeting (or the place involved); association”), from conventus (“assembled, convened”) + -culum (suffix forming noun diminutives), perfect passive participle of conveniō (“to assemble, convene, meet together”), from con- (“together, with”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“along, at, next to, with”)) + veniō (“to approach, come”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- (“to step”) + *-yéti (suffix forming intransitive, imperfective verbs)).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A small assembly or gathering; esp., a secret assembly.
- noun 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.
Etymology [L. conventiculum, dim. of conventus: cf. F. conventicule. See Convent, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “conventicle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details