council-house
1. a. A house in which a council meets for deliberation; in Scotland and elsewhere, a common name for a town-hall.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 16094 (Trin.) Pilate..ȝede in to þe parlour: Þat was a counsel hous badde. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 181 That none but he be wepenles Shall come into the counseil hous. 1526 Tindale Acts xxv. 23 Agrippa and Bernice..entrede into the counsell housse with the captaynes. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iii. v. 38 The subtill Traytor This day had plotted, in the Councell-House, To murther me. 1760–72 tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) II. 32 On the west side which faces the cathedral, is the councel-house. 1890 What to see in Birmingham 6, The Council House. |
b. † counsel-house-man, a town-councillor.
| 1697 Lond. Gaz. No. 3338/3 Coventry Nov. 1, The Mayor..Aldermen, Sheriffs, and Counsel-House-Men..met at St. Mary's Hall. 1715 Ibid. No. 5377/1 An humble Address of the Mayor..Aldermen, Sheriffs..Council-house-men..and Inhabitants of the City of Coventry. |
c. A house used by North American Indians when in council. U.S.
| 1751 J. Bartram Observ. Pensilvania to Ontario 50 We alighted at the council house, where the chiefs were already assembled to receive us. 1823 E. James Exped. Rocky Mts. I. 112 It [sc. the lodge] serves as a council-house for the nation. a 1927 F. M. Canton Frontier Trails (1930) 64 Sharp Nose wanted to have a talk with me in the council house at the agency. 1967 W. N. Fenton in E. Tooker Iroquois Culture 12 The Council House of the Seneca Nation. |
2. A dwelling-house erected by a council (council 10).
| 1923 Oxf. Times 14 Sept. 16/5 When the time came for plumbers to get on with the Council houses. 1929 Times 29 Jan. 8/1 The Reigate Rural District Council are now insisting on building a street of council houses along one of the most beautiful lanes in Surrey. 1955 Times 13 May 15/4 The politics of the council house tenant, the artisan, the trade unionist. 1970 New Statesman 23 Oct. 512/1 Tory ministers were permitted various peripheral initiatives, on..council house sales, and the like. |