Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Conventicle \Con*ven"ti*cle\, n. [L. conventiculum, dim. of
   conventus: cf. F. conventicule. See {Convent}, n.]
   1. A small assembly or gathering; esp., a secret assembly.

            They are commanded to abstain from all conventicles
            of men whatsoever. --Ayliffe.

   2. An assembly for religious worship; esp., such an assembly
      held privately, as in times of persecution, by
      Nonconformists or Dissenters in England, or by Covenanters
      in Scotland; -- often used opprobriously, as if those
      assembled were heretics or schismatics.

            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 curch of
            England's] service in the morning, and go with their
            wives to a conventicle in the afternoon. --Swift.

Source : WordNet®

conventicle
     n 1: a secret unauthorized meeting for religious worship
     2: a building for religious assembly (especially
        Nonconformists, e.g., Quakers) [syn: {meetinghouse}]