longhouse

plural longhouses · alternative long house · alternative long-house

1. A long communal housing of the Iroquois and some other American Indians, the Malaysians, the Indonesians, the Vikings, and many other peoples.

   We met in Council at the Long House.

   1753, George Washington, Diary, volume I, page 50

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   They marched in under French Colours and were conducted into the Long House.

   1751, C. Gist, Journals, page 51

   One branch of this numerous people was seated on a beautiful river, known as the “Lonapewihittuck”, where the “long house,” or Great Council Fire, of the nation was universally admitted to be established.

   1826, [James Fenimore Cooper], “Preface”, in The Last of the Mohicans; a Narrative of 1757. […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea— […], →OCLC, page vi

   The practice of herding together in ‘long houses’ prevents mental and moral improvement and hinders advance in gardening and planting and agricultural developement generally.

   1894 May 1, Sarawak Gazette, page 67

   The Kenyah village frequently consists of a single long house.

   1912, Hose & al., chapter IV, in Pagan Tribes of Borneo, volume I

   The Welsh long-houses […] with long sides and opposite doors providing a passage from side to side, and dividing the building roughly in two.

   1966, G.E. Evans, chapter V, in Pattern under Plough, page 72

2. euphemisticobsoleteAn outhouse, an outbuilding used for urination and defecation.

   To make wads and wisps for those that go to the Long-house (you know what I meane).

   1622, M. Alemán, chapter II, in J. Mabbe, transl., Rogue, page 355

   Synonyms: backhouse, backside, bog, boggard, boghouse, carsey, chamber foreign, common house

3. derogatoryslangfar-right subculturesThe modern society, perceived as increasingly matriarchal and overly egalitarian, and therefore stifling nonconformity and masculine values.

   As the concept of the “Longhouse” makes clear, the new administration’s use of “gender ideology” rhetoric isn’t just about trans people; it’s about the upending of traditional gender roles.

   2025 February 8, Elisabeth Zerofsky, “Trump Joins a Global War on ‘Gender Ideology’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 08 Feb 2025

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   Incredible witnessing the tone of the longhouse authoritarian liberal regime is that of an obsessive and histrionic ex or overbearing mother trying to gaslight you. The twilight days of the Soviet union at least tried to project an air of masculine competency via propaganda.

   2022 February 19, @giantgio, Twitter, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2022

   The most important feature of the Longhouse, and why it makes such a resonant (and controversial) symbol of our current circumstances, is the ubiquitous rule of the Den Mother. More than anything, the Longhouse refers to the remarkable overcorrection of the last two generations toward social norms centering feminine needs and feminine methods for controlling, directing, and modeling behavior.

   2023 February 16, L0m3z [pseudonym, Jonathan Keeperman], “What is the Longhouse?”, in First Things, archived from the original on 07 Feb 2025

   The term "Longhouse" in online discourse, particularly among right wing communities, is a metaphorical concept that describes a society characterized by matriarchal control and the suppression of non-conformity. This concept emphasizes the prioritization of emotional safety and the avoidance of direct conflict, often at the expense of privacy and individual liberties.

   2024 January 28, Ruxandra Teslo, “Political polarisation by gender: a matter of aesthetics?”, in Ruxandra's Substack, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2025

   Now men are complaining that women are oppressing them. Isn’t the longhouse just a long, male whine about a failure to adequately compete and you’re pretending, “Oh, for the days of the steppe barbarians!” but maybe you should suck it up and actually compete on the grounds that we have in 21st-century America?

   2025 May 1, Ross Douthat, “The New Culture of the Right: Vital, Masculine and Intentionally Offensive”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 01 May 2025

   Her book includes an incisive discussion of misogyny on the New Right. [Laura K.] Field notes how “gynocracy” and “the longhouse” have become overwrought MAGA epithets for an unbearably feminized and pluralist society.

   2025 December 17, Jennifer Szalai, “The Intellectuals Fueling the MAGA Movement”, in The New York Times Book Review, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 Dec 2025

1. uncountableAlternative letter-case form of longhouse (“matriarchal modern society”).