What does "alehouse" mean?

A business, such as an inn or tavern, where ale is sold.

What is a synonym for "alehouse"?

Common synonyms include: bar, barrel house, barroom, beer bar, beer garden, beer hall.

Alehouse

noun

noun ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A business, such as an inn or tavern, where ale is sold.
"Find him in a pulpit but twiſe in the yeare, And Ile find him fortie times in the ale-houſe taſting ſtrong beare."
2
a tavern where ale is sold wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

bar barrel house barroom beer bar beer garden beer hall

Example

More examples

"On the evening of the day when the Lord Keeper and his daughter were saved from such imminent peril, two strangers were seated in the most private apartment of a small obscure inn, or rather alehouse, called the Tod's Den, about three or four miles from the Castle of Ravenswood."

Etymology

From Middle English alehous, alehuse from Old English ealuhūs. By surface analysis, ale + house.

Related phrases

alehouse keeper hedge alehouse

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.