meeting house

American  

[mee-ting hous] / ˈmi tɪŋ ˌhaʊs /

Or meeting-house,

noun

1. a house or other building for communal gathering, especially a place of Protestant worship. Common in Colonial America for both public business and religious worship, a meeting house today is usually a place of worship for Quakers, Mennonites, Mormons, or certain other nonconformist denominations.

---

meeting house British  

noun

1. the place in which certain religious groups, esp Quakers, hold their meetings for worship

2. Also called: wharepuni.  a large Māori tribal hall

---

Etymology

Origin of meeting house

First recorded in 1625–35

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

meeting house

For months, activists have been demanding more support from city leadership, explained Elias Siegelman, an activist who works with No ICE Philly, which meets in the quintessentially Pennsylvanian location of a Quaker meeting house.

From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2026

The meeting house grows progressively more dilapidated, and the costumes get shabbier, indicating that things aren’t going well for the Puritans.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

Paul Parker, of Quakers in Britain, said he could not recall anyone being arrested at a Quaker meeting house in living memory.

From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2025

The museum plans to recreate First Baptist’s original meeting house on the land where it once stood, said Gary, the museum’s director of archaeology.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 6, 2023

Supper was held outside the meeting house, the biggest building on the property.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

Related Words

• gathering place