conventualadj.n.
/kənˈvɛntjuːəl/ A. adj.† 2. Pertaining to an assembly. Obsolete. rare.† 3. (See quot. 1610) Obsolete. (Cf. conventionary adj. and n.)
1.
a. Of or belonging to a religious convent.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > [adjective] > characteristic of a convent
conventualc1425
conventical1765
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xiv. 10 In Saynct Andrewys Cathedrale Kyrk the Conwentuale Chanownys togyddyr gaddryd all.
c1475 Partenay 3412 The Abbot And monkes conuentuall..scorched and brend were to Askes small.
1596 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent (rev. ed.) 329 The Pryorie at Leedes..was a conuentuall house of Regular Chanons.
1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. ii. xii. 57 Some Religious or Conventuall men dwelling in the towne.
1820 W. Scott Monastery I. vi. 192 He turned with conventual reverence to the Lord Abbot.
1855 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Philip II of Spain I. ii. xii. 277 Neither monk nor nun ventured to go abroad in the conventual garb.
b. conventual church, conventual prior, conventual priory: see quots.
ΚΠ
1533–4 Act 25 Hen. VIII c. 21 §25 Conuentuall churches, parochiall churches, chappels.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 4/1 Abbaties, Priories conventual, and other benefices electiue.
1598 J. Stow Suruay of London 407 There were in this city..13. great conuentuall Churches, besides the lesser sort called Parish Churches, to the number of 126.
1726 J. Ayliffe Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani 6 Conventual Priors that have the chief ruling Power over a Monastery, and wherein no Abbot or other Person is of greater Dignity than they themselves are.
1726 J. Ayliffe Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani 167 A Conventual Church is that which is appropriated to some Religious House.
1877 C. M. Yonge Cameos cxxxv, in Monthly Packet Apr. 319 To be daily said in all churches instead of in only the conventual ones.
c. Belonging to the Franciscan order of the Conventuals: see B. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious order > Franciscan > [adjective] > Conventual
conventual1706
1706 tr. L. E. Du Pin New Eccl. Hist. 16th Cent. II. iv. xi. 449 The Franciscans were divided into Conventual Friars, and Friars of the Strict Observance.
1873 W. H. Dixon Hist. Two Queens IV. xx. i. 63 The Franciscan orders..observant or conventual.
d. transferred. Characteristic of a convent.
ΚΠ
1870 J. R. Lowell Among my Bks. (1873) 1st Ser. 153 [He] compels his clipped fancy to the conventual discipline of prose.
1882 R. L. Stevenson New Arabian Nights I. 218 The garden was conventual, the house had the air of a prison.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [adjective] > relating to an assembly of people or animals
conventual1569
1569 J. Sanford tr. H. C. Agrippa Of Vanitie Artes & Sci. 107 Or els Conventual, or belonging to companie.
ΚΠ
1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia iv. i. 80 These Reuenewes may be said to be Conuentuall and Incident. Conuentuall Reuenewes comprize al Rents both in Esse and in Posse.
B. n.
1. A member or inmate of a convent.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > [noun]
cloisterer1340
religious1340
closterera1400
ruler1399
regular1443
professorc1500
votary1543
conventual1611
religionary1622
conventer1671
conversant1671
conventualist1762
religioner1808
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. viii. 501/2 In this time of Interdict, both Conuentuals and Seculars, might in their Churches celebrate diuine seruice.
1762 P. Murdoch tr. A. F. Büsching New Syst. Geogr. VI. 343 It [a Lutheran convent] consists of an abbot, a prior, and four conventuals.
1849 Lady Wilde tr. W. Meinhold Sidonia the Sorceress II. 132 Sidonia von Bork, Conventual (and not Prioress) of the noble convent of Marienfliess.
1888 A. Jessopp Coming of Friars iii. 132 That large class of conventuals which comprehended the mendicant order.
2. A member of that branch of the order of Franciscan friars who live in large convents and follow a mitigated rule; the other branch being the Observants.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious order > Franciscan > [noun] > Conventual (mitigated)
conventual1533
1533 T. More Apol. xv, in Wks. 875/2 And some question hath arisen in the order of saint Francise, betwene the obseruauntes and ye conuentualles.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xx. 751/1 Sixe religious Houses for Franciscan Friers, three of them for Obseruants, and the other three for Conuentuals.
1868 J. H. Blunt Reformation Church of Eng. I. 9 An Observant Friar, that is a strict Franciscan, who observed his rule, as distinguished from the Conventuals, who lived in great luxury and managed to secure great estates.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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adj.n.c1425