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hus⋅tings

  [huhs-tingz]
Use hustings in a Sentence
–noun (used with a singular or plural verb)
1. (before 1872) the temporary platform on which candidates for the British Parliament stood when nominated and from which they addressed the electors.
2. any place from which political campaign speeches are made.
3. the political campaign trail.
4. Also called hustings court. a local court in certain parts of Virginia.
Origin:
bef. 1050; ME, OE < ODan hūs-thing house meeting. See house, thing 2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To hustings
hust·ings   (hŭs'tĭngz)   
pl.n.   (used with a sing. or pl. verb)
    1. A place where political campaign speeches are made: a candidate out on the hustings in the farm belt.
    2. The activities involved in political campaigning: a veteran of the hustings.
    3. A platform on which candidates for Parliament formerly stood to address the electors.
    4. The proceedings of a parliamentary election.
  2. Chiefly British A court formerly held in some English cities and still held infrequently in London.
  3. Chiefly British
    1. A platform on which candidates for Parliament formerly stood to address the electors.
    2. The proceedings of a parliamentary election.

[From Middle English husting, court of common pleas, from Old English hūsting, court, from Old Norse hūsthing : hūs, house + thing, assembly.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Hustings

Hus"tings\, n. pl. [OE. husting an assembly, coucil, AS. h?sting; of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. h?s?ing; h?s home + ?ing thing, assembly, meeting; akin to Dan. & Sw. ting, E. thing. See House, and Thing.]

1. A court formerly held in several cities of England; specif., a court held in London, before the lord mayor, recorder, and sheriffs, to determine certain classes of suits for the recovery of lands within the city. In the progress of law reform this court has become unimportant. --Mozley & W.

2. Any one of the temporary courts held for the election of members of the British Parliament.

3. The platform on which candidates for Parliament formerly stood in addressing the electors. [Eng.]

When the rotten hustings shake In another month to his brazen lies. --Tennyson.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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hustings 
O.E. husting "meeting, court, tribunal," from O.N. husðing "council," from hus "house" + ðing "assembly" (see thing); so called because it was a meeting of the men who formed the "household" of a nobleman or king. The native O.E. word for this was folc-gemot. The plural became the usual form c.1500; sense of "temporary platform for political speeches" developed by 1719 from London's Court of Hustings, presided over by the Lord Mayor, which was held on a platform in the Guildhall. This sense broadened to encompass the whole election process.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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