pewdomn.
/ˈpjuːdəm/, U.S. /ˈpjud(ə)m/ Now rare.
The provision of pews in churches or chapels for the use of members of the congregation; esp. the system of pew-rents. Also: †the status of a rented pew (obsolete rare).
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > furniture > seat > pew > [noun] > arrangement or provision of
pewage1841
pewdom1866
1866 Church & State Rev. 24 Aug. 530 Dilapidated chancels, shabby altars, dreary hebdomadal services, and general pewdom and beadledom.
1876 ‘P. Pyper’ Mr. Gray & Neighbours I. 143 The seats..where the aged poor sat, had little doors to them, to make them as much like pews as was possible without giving them the full dignity of pewdom.
1886 Times 17 Mar. 6/2 The testimony of working men showed that the system of pew rents had done more than anything else to alienate the people from the church of their fathers..and it was from the middle class that this system of pewdom took its rise.
1888 Church Times 30 Nov. 1044/2 The crusade against Pewdom.
1994 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 2 June e1/3 Durand Overholtzer, whose Modesto-based church furniture company is one of the giants of pewdom.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1866