go-to-meetingadj.n.
/ˌɡəʊtəˈmiːtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˌɡoʊdəˈmidɪŋ/ colloquial (originally U.S.).
A. adj. (attributive).
1. Esp. of clothes, a hat, etc.: suitable for use at a church service or meeting (meeting n. 3b); smart, formal, ‘best’. Cf. meeting n. Compounds 1, Sunday n. and adv. Compounds 1b, Sunday-go-to-meeting adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > church-going > [adjective] > suited to Sunday
go-to-meeting1790
Sunday-go-to-meeting1831
Sundayfied1899
society > faith > artefacts > lay garments > [adjective] > worn on Sunday
Sunday-going1824
go-to-meeting1835
1790 R. Tyler Contrast iii. i. 45 Jenny. Have you no little song to please the ladies; such as Roslin Castle, or the Maid of the Mill? Jonathan. Why all my tunes [are] go to meeting tunes, save one.
1804 T. G. Fessenden Orig. Poems 140 Each scrapes, huzzas, and kicks and bounces, Waves high her go-to-meeting cap.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. 148 His ‘go-to-meeting’ coat, as they call that in America.
1835 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 1st Ser. ix One of those blue-noses, with his go-to-meetin clothes on.
1870 R. Broughton Red as Rose I. 120 Very few men look their best in their Go-to-Meeting clothes.
1937 C. M. Wilson Aroostook 41 A final rinsing for Sunday shirts and go-to-meeting dresses.
1954 Winnipeg (Manitoba) Free Press 11 Dec. 25/5 Phyllis, in her best go-to-meeting, bunny-trimmed winter suit sits on Santa's lap.
1996 Sewanee Rev. 104 3 We wore go-to-meeting dark wooly suits that itched even during cold weather.
2011 M. J. Maffini Busy Woman's Guide to Murder ii. 20 She was resplendent in an indigo suede jacket and matching pants, her go-to meeting outfit, she called it.
2. Of a person. (a) Churchgoing; devout, God-fearing; (later sometimes more generally) attentive to civic responsibilities, respectable. (b) That habitually attends meetings, or is in favour of or inured to attending meetings.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > church-going > [adjective]
churchgoing1632
go-to-meeting1817
practising1873
1817 J. M. Scott Blue Lights Notes 136 It is part of the definition of a New-England man, that he is a go-to-meeting animal.
1823 Augusta (Georgia) Chron. 13 Aug. The road was well filled with go to meeting folks.
1868 G. G. Channing Early Recoll. Newport, R.I. 83 I was quite a go-to-meeting lad.
1907 N.Y. Observer 23 May 677/2 The children are all married and settled..and they're all steady go-to-meeting folks.
1975 Herald-Times-Reporter (Manitowoc, Wisconsin) 30 June 4/5 The civil service establishment is disproportionately powerful as a political force because members ‘are literate, educated, go-to-meeting people who rarely fail to vote’.
2009 J. Littman & M. Hershon I hate People ii. vi. 118 There are these professional go-to-meeting people. Your whole day gets filled with meetings.
B. n.
In plural. Smart clothes, ‘Sunday best’. Also in singular: a ‘go-to-meeting’ garment. Cf. Sunday-go-to-meeting n. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > lay garments > [noun] > worn on Sunday
Sabbath dress1825
go-to-meetings1838
1831 Boston Transcript 12 Dec. 1/1 They tossed on their ‘Sunday-go-to-meetings’, and crossed into Jarsey.]
1838 Ladies' Compan. June 87/2 His ‘tattered clothes’, which he grabbed spasmodically, unfortunately for the occasion, happened to be his ‘best go-to-meetings’.
1878 R. T. Cooke Happy Dodd 70 She didn't never have more'n one caliker gown to her name, an' an old alipacky [i.e. alpaca coat] for a go-to-meeting.
1916 E. G. Whiting No Trespassing ii. 34 You want me to lend you Benjamin's go-to-meetin's?
1986 in Dict. Eng. Creole Trinidad & Tobago (2009) 391/2 She dress in she best go-to-meeting.
2000 R. Slotkin Abe (2001) vii. 109 A big man with his hair slicked back and his go-to-Meetings on.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1790