Dictionary

molly house en · NOUN

Etymology

From the Victorian slang molly (“a male homosexual”).

Meanings

1. (historical, slang) A tavern or other establishment in 18th and 19th century England where homosexuals could meet for various activities, such as cross-dressing and sexual encounters.
   • Just — we must fuck who we will. Else what's the point of a molly house? 2014, Mark Ravenhill, Mother Clap's Molly House, page 71:
   • Just west of Charing Cross (where a molly named Tolson kept a brandy shop in the late 1720s, and where Whale and Horner were pilloried for keeping a molly house), we come to St James's Square and Pall Mall, ... 1992, Rictor Norton, Mother Clap's molly house: the gay subculture in England, page 90:
   • In a vivid illustration of the dynamics created by sexual deviance, molly houses were a defense against the pressures of prejudice, but their visibility inspired new hostility. 2007, Katherine Crawford, European Sexualities, 1400-1800, page 204:
   • One visitor to a molly house in the Old Bailey observed “men calling one another 'my dear' and hugging, kissing, and tickling each other as if they were a mixture of wanton males and females, and assuming effeminate voices and airs. 2007, Thomas A. Foster, Long Before Stonewall, page 99:

Forms