Meanings
plural Cecil houses
- UKhistoricalA shelter providing accommodation for homeless women.
Whately was an active supporter of the Cecil Houses in London, which provided overnight accommodation for homeless women, where they could obtain ‘a clean bed, with plenty of hot water for baths, tea and biscuits, for one shilling a night, with no questions asked’
2018, Keith Gildart, David Howell, editors, Dictionary of Labour Biography: Volume XIV, Springer, →ISBN, page 279
Origin
Named after English journalist Cecil Chesterton (1879–1918).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Cecil house. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cecil%20house
“Cecil house.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cecil%20house. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Cecil house,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cecil%20house.
Source: Cecil house on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.