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
conventicles
noun
as in meetinghouses
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- meetinghouses
- houses
- halls
- headquarters
- camps
- dens
- clubs
- hangouts
- hideaways
- haunts
- lairs
- hideouts
- lodges
- clubhouses