pewdom

English

Etymology

pew +‎ -dom

Noun

pewdom (uncountable)

1. (Christianity, historical) The system according to which certain people or certain social classes were allocated particular pews in the local church.
   • 1879, Authorised Report of the Church Congress, page 113:

     […] that the people who we say have been driven away, and kept away, from the church by pewdom, do go and build Dissenting meeting-houses. The supporters of these are not the very poor, nor the working classes, […]

   • 1886, The Parliamentary Debates, page 939:

     […] and it was from the middle class that this system of pewdom took its rise.