hustings
noun/ˈhʌstɪŋz/
/ˈhʌstɪŋz/
(plural hustings)
(especially British English)- [countable] a meeting before an election at which candidates speak to voters
- an election hustings
- the hustings[plural] the political meetings, speeches, etc. that take place in the period before an election
- on the hustings Most candidates will be out on the hustings this week.
Word Originlate Old English husting ‘deliberative assembly, council’, from Old Norse hústhing ‘household assembly held by a leader’, from hús ‘house’ + thing ‘assembly, parliament’; hustings was applied in Middle English to the highest court of the City of London, presided over by the Recorder of London. It later denoted the platform in the Guildhall where the Lord Mayor and aldermen presided, and (early 18th cent.) a temporary platform on which parliamentary candidates were nominated; hence the sense ‘electoral proceedings’.
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hustings