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conventicle

 - 2 dictionary results

con⋅ven⋅ti⋅cle

  [kuhn-ven-ti-kuhl]
Use conventicle in a Sentence
–noun
1. a secret or unauthorized meeting, esp. for religious worship, as those held by Protestant dissenters in England in the 16th and 17th centuries.
2. a place of meeting or assembly, esp. a Nonconformist meeting house.
3. Obsolete. a meeting or assembly.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L conventiculum a small assembly. See convent, -i-, -cle 1

Related forms:
con⋅ven⋅ti⋅cler, noun
con⋅ven⋅tic⋅u⋅lar  [kon-ven-tik-yuh-ler] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To conventicle
con·ven·ti·cle   (kən-věn'tĭ-kəl)   
n.  

  1. A religious meeting, especially a secret or illegal one, such as those held by Dissenters in England and Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries.

  2. The place where such a meeting is held.


[Middle English, from Latin conventiculum, meeting, diminutive of conventus, assembly; see convent.]
con·ven'ti·cler n.
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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