1834, "conventional thing or practice;" 1842, "conventional quality or state;" see conventional + -ity. Related: Conventionalities.

"the operation or practice of fixing colors in solution in textiles, hides, hair, etc.," late 14c., verbal noun from dye (v.).

"art or practice of cooking and dressing food for the table," late 14c.; see cook (n.) + -ery.

"art or practice of athletic games or exercises," c. 1730, from athletic; also see -ics. Probably formed on the model of gymnastics.

1610s (n.), "gutter," from water (n.1) + board (n.1). Waterboarding as the name of a type of torture is from 2005, but the practice is older.

c. 1600, "according to hermetic practice," especially, chemically, "by means of fusion," from hermetical (see hermetic) + -ly (2).

"the boastful pretensions or knavish practice of a quack, particularly in medicine" [Century Dictionary], 1690s, from quack (n.1) + -ery.

"art or practice of riding on a bicycle," 1869, verbal noun from bicycle (v.), for which see bicycle (n.).

"the practice, system, doctrines, etc. of authoritarians," 1883; see authoritarian + -ism. Early use was mostly in communist jargon.

"effect, operation, practice," early 15c., from Old French uevre (13c., Modern French oeuvre), from Latin opera (see opera).