pew-rentn.
/ˈpjuːrɛnt/, U.S. /ˈpjuˌrɛnt/ Now chiefly historical.
A rent paid for the exclusive use of a particular pew or seat in a church or chapel. Cf. pewage n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > hire or rent > [noun] > for pew
pewage1640
pew-rent1794
pew rental1837
seat-rent1865
1794 Times 17 Apr. 1/2 Payable out of the Burial Fees, the Pew Rents of the said Chapel.
1838 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 1 460 A share of the pew-rents in Archbishop Tenison's chapel.
1882 Cent. Mag. June 320 Who drove his debtors to despair by premature foreclosure, Then paid his pew-rent in advance, with infinite composure.
1904 E. Glasgow Deliverance 38 I go to church like clockwork, and pay my pew-rent.
1983 K. M. MacMorran & K. J. T. Elphinstone Handbk. for Churchwardens & Parochial Church Councillors ix. 94 Subject also, in a church where there are pew-rents, to the rights of the pew-holders, the churchwardens may direct persons where to sit, and where not to sit.
1991 K. Jones Learning not to be First ii. 18 Originally the family had worshipped at Trinity Church, Marylebone Road, until Mrs Rossetti had been bullied by the rector about her pew rent.
Derivatives
ˈpew-ˌrented adj. now rare supported by income derived from pew-rents.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > furniture > seat > pew > [adjective] > having pews > for which users pay rent
pew-renting1842
pew-rented1843
1843 Ecclesiologist 2 15 A fashionable pue-rented chapel.
1913 Times 23 Apr. 5/2 Their scheme under which impoverished pew-rented churches may receive permanent endowment.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1794