@ party

noun

An informal private party held as part of a convention, giving Internet users a chance to meet in person.

Meanings

noun@ party (plural @ parties)

plural @ parties

  1. InternethistoricalAn informal private party held as part of a convention, giving Internet users a chance to meet in person.

    Hi! An @ party will be held in Room 3121 at Balticon on Saturday night, starting at 10 PM and going for an as-yet undetermined while. The @ party is hosted by Digital Express Group, purveyors of that mightiest of refreshments, digital espresso!

    1992, Richard L. Butler, “An @ party at Balticon, Room 3121, hurrah...”, in rec.arts.sf.fandom (Usenet)
    1 more example

    I've been to a few @ parties- it's very simple. You look at the party board, and show up at the appropriate place and time. Usually/often someone at the door will ask you for your email address (just to make sure you aren't some kind of clueless geek, I guess), and you go on in and meet net.people.

    1993, Binky, “@ Party?”, in alt.fandom.cons (Usenet)

Origin

From the @ symbol used in e-mail addresses.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 面基
  • 面基 (miànjī)Translations
Cite this entry
APA

@ party. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/%40%20party

MLA

“@ party.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/%40%20party. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “@ party,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/%40%20party.

Source: @ party on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.