▪ I. convenience, n.
(kənˈviːnɪəns)
[ad. L. convenientia meeting together, agreement, accord, harmony, conformity, suitableness, fitness, n. of quality from convenient-em convenient: see -ence. (The word also occurs in Fr. in 15–16th c.: but the actual Fr. equivalent is convenance.)]
† 1. a. Agreement, accordance; congruity of form, quality, or nature. Obs.
| 1413 Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle iv. xxvi. (1483) 71 Ther is a maner of conuenyence bytwene the thynge that is sene in the myrroure, and that other that is sene withouten. c 1430 ― Bochas ii. xvi. (1554) 55 b, Atwene the Cedre of trees of royal And a sharpe thistle is no conuenience. 1554 T. Sampson in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. xviii. 52 There is no convenience between Christ and Belial. 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 189 Divination..made from the similitude and convenience betwixt them [inferior creatures] and the stars. |
† b. An agreement, a correspondence. Obs.
| 1534 More On the Passion Wks. 1274/1 Thys kynde of man created God of a merueylous conuenience also, with al other maner of creatures. 1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. i. 234 For want of these requir'd conueniences. |
† c. of convenience: in accordance (with the premisses or facts); as a matter of congruity, accordingly. Obs.
| 1530 Rastell Bk. Purgat. ii. v, Of convenyence it followeth that the soule of man must nedys be immortall. 1565 Jewel Repl. Harding (1611) 352 Thus it followeth of conuenience..that the Flesh is not the same in qualities. |
† 2. An agreement, a covenant. Obs. rare.
| 1551 in Strype Eccl. Mem. ii. xxix. 243 For the conclusion of such conveniences as were drawn and articulated between the D. of Somerset and the said company. |
† 3. Accordance of nature; fitness, aptitude. Obs.
| c 1430 Lydg. Hornys Away 60 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 47 In whom alle verteu is, by iust conuenience, Made stable in god by gostly confidence. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 772 The convenience of both their ages and estates. 1601 Shakes. All's Well iii. ii. 75 The Duke will lay vpon him all the honor That good conuenience claimes. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xix. 95 Convenience, or Aptitude to produce the Peace. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 348 As its use is very easie, so its convenience is very great. 1756 Burke Subl. & B. Wks. 1842 I. 48 Proportion relates almost wholly to convenience, as every idea of order seems to do. |
† 4. Moral or ethical fitness; propriety. Obs.
| 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles II. iii. Pref., O! how much did they vainly glorie in this Congruitie and Convenience of their actions. |
5. The quality of being convenient, generally: i.e. of being suitable or well-adapted to the performance of some action or to the satisfying of requirements; suitability, commodiousness.
| 1601 Shakes. All's Well ii. iii. 253 Ile beate him..if I can meete him with any conuenience. 1653 H. More Antid. Ath. ii. iv. (1712) 50 The great convenience and pleasure of Navigation. 1726 Chetwood Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 260 Vera Cruz..where I should have Convenience of imbarking for Spain. 1728 T. Sheridan Persius Prol. (1739) 3 The Ancients, at the erecting of Villages, had a regard to the Convenience of Water. 1821 J. Q. Adams in C. Davies Metr. Syst. iii. 130 The convenience and the facility of decimal arithmetic for ‘calculation’. |
6. The quality of being personally convenient; ease or absence of trouble in use or action; material advantage or absence of disadvantage; commodity, personal comfort; saving of trouble. Hence at one's convenience, to suit or await one's convenience, marriage of convenience, etc.
| 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 148 The best forming of all Members in a Building for the..Convenience of the intended Inhabitant. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 164 ¶3 His intended Son-in-Law, who had all along regarded this Alliance rather as a Marriage of Convenience than of Love. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters II. 125 A building..for the convenience of the drinkers. a 1745 Swift Wks. (1841) II. 4 It is merely for convenience or ease that you are content to take them. 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 55 Articles of necessity, convenience, or luxury. 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 14 The convenience of borrowing and lending in one generally recognized commodity. 1888 M. Morris Claverhouse vii. 127 Like Pilate again, he preferred his own convenience, and the prisoner was put to death. 1890 Eng. Illustr. Mag. Christm. No. 276 He awaited my convenience in the drawing-room. |
7. (with a and pl.) a. A convenient state or condition of matters; an advantage.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 7, I haue abandon'd Troy..expos'd my selfe, From certaine and possest conueniences, To doubtfull fortunes. 1647–8 Sir C. Cotterell Davila's Hist. Fr. (1678) 17 He would obtain riches..with divers other conveniences. 1759 Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 III. 198 Men who want a present convenience must not be over-solicitous about future contingencies. 1846 Mill Logic i. v. §6 There is sometimes a convenience in extending the boundaries of a class. |
b. An opportune occasion, an opportunity.
| 1679 Jesuites Ghostly Ways 7 Having let slip so fair an opportunity and convenience, for him to perform his bloody..design. 1712 Hearne Collect. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) III. 430 That he buy Books the next convenience. 1832 Dickens Let. 30 July (1965) I. 7 You will perhaps oblige me with a line at your earliest convenience. |
c. pl. Material arrangements or appliances conducive to personal comfort, ease of action, or saving of trouble. (Rarely in sing.)
| 1672 Cave Prim. Chr. i. v. (1673) 100 These Dæmons have no administration of the conveniences of man's life. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 351 ¶4 They were eating their Flesh upon cakes of Bread for want of other Conveniences. 1716 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. I. vii. 20 Having in them all the conveniences of a palace. 1762 Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) IV. lvi. 330 Unfit, from their habitual sloth and ignorance, to raise any convenience of human life. 1830 Brewster Edin. Cycl. VII. i. 220/1 Labourers, whom he pays with what are called conveniences; these consist in a house, ground for potatoes, grass for sheep and cows, etc. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xxii. 569 Necessary conveniences for the homestead. |
d. A particular appliance; a utensil; formerly applied commonly to a conveyance; now often used euphemistically, spec. a (public) lavatory, a water-closet; esp. in public convenience.
| 1671 Sir C. Lyttelton in Hatton Corr. (1878) 65 Before they can order theyr convenience to London by land. 1700 Gov. Nicholson in W. S. Perry Hist. Coll. Amer. Col. Ch. I. 120 To find a convenience and provide necessaries for his voyage hither. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. (1812) I. 250 A convenience to spit in appeared on one side of her chair. 1772 R. Graves Spir. Quixote xii. xi. (D.), A man packed up in this leathern convenience with a wife and children. 1841 S. Bamford Pass. Life Radical I. xlii. 236 A convenience, from which emanated the disagreeableness. 1883 Manch. Exam. 30 Oct. 8/4 A post-office car, which contains that great convenience a letter box. 1883 Stevenson in Longm. Mag. II. 296 An American railroad-car..with a stove and a convenience, one at either end. 1938 O. Lancaster Pillar to Post p. xiii, The cathedral, the Dean's house..and the public convenience..are all ‘architecture’. 1958 B. Hamilton Too Much of Water ix. 185 Gents and Ladies bathrooms and conveniences. 1963 V. Nabokov Gift iii. 156 A public convenience with thujas around it. |
e. transf. of a person.
| 1865 Bushnell Vicar. Sacr. iii. v. 292 A God, who without maintaining any good of principle, consents to be only the convenience of all. Mod. They wanted to make a convenience of me. |
† 8. Means of living conveniently, competence.
| 1662 J. Bargrave Pope Alex. VII (1867) 44 The best part of his convenience he acknowledgeth to receive from the family of Lancelloti. |
9. attrib., in sense ‘designed for convenience; used when convenient’. orig. U.S.
| 1961 Economist 2 Dec. 910/1 Even the Thanksgiving turkey has now become a ‘convenience’ food. 1965 Daily Express 11 Nov. 2/8 The ‘convenience store’ is always open in America. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald 30 Apr. iii. 10/5 Send us your favorite recipe using convenience foods (frozen or refrigerated prepared foods, canned soups, sauce mixes, cake mixes etc.) and you may win a $10 prize. 1968 Guardian 6 Dec. 9/5 No one would deny the drudgery, the time-wasting, the monotony, that has been removed by convenience foods. 1970 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 18 June 1/6 A woman was shot in the arm as she watched a fire at a convenience store. |
▸ convenience food n. a type of food or meal which requires little or no preparation or cooking time, esp. one sold prepackaged or frozen.
| 1942 Jrnl. of Marketing 52/2 Labor-saving foods, *convenience foods, are therefore in great demand. 1972 Times 10 Apr. 14 To the consumer takeaway meals are the convenience food, better value than either frozen or dried products. 1996 D. Ornish Everyday Cooking (2002) 34 Most supermarket freezer sections contain a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and other convenience foods that you can use to make meals on the double. |
▪ II. convenience, v.
(kənˈviːnɪəns)
[f. prec.]
trans. To afford convenience or accommodation to; to suit; to accommodate.
| 1630 Hales Gold. Rem. (1688) 365 What way we may be pleasur'd and convenienc'd. 1677 A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. Ep. to Rdr., According as they..do convenience themselves with just and equal Laws and Customs. Ibid. 43 In places that are eminently convenienced for quick getting out. 1885 Pall Mall G. 28 July 4/2 A general rule that the public are not to be convenienced unless they pay for it. |