Con-vĕnt’ĭ-cle1, n.
(-vĕnt/ĭ-kl), n. [Lat. conventiculum, diminutive of conventus; Fr. conventicule, Sp. conventiculo, It. conventicolo. See CONVENT, n.] 1. An assembly or gathering. They are commanded to abstain from all conventicles of men whatsoever. Ayliffe. 2. An assembly for religious worship; and opprobriously, such an assembly held by non-conformists or dissenters from the established church of England. The first Christians could never have had recourse to nocturnal or clandestine conventicles till driven to them by the violence of persecution. Hammond. A sort of men who . . . attend its [the church of England’s] service in the morning, and go with their wives to a conventicle in the afternoon. Swift. The old haunter of conventicles became an intolerant High Churchman. Macaulay.