rathskeller

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The Word of the Day for February 8 is:

rathskeller   \RAHT-skell-er\   noun
     : a usually basement tavern or restaurant

Example sentence: 
     Many workers from the town's mills and factories liked to 
gather after hours at the rathskeller located underneath the 
banquet hall.

Did you know?
     "Rathskeller" is a product of Germany, deriving from two 
German nouns: "Rat" (also spelled "Rath" in early Modern 
German), which means "council," and "Keller," which 
means "cellar." The etymology reflects the fact that many early 
rathskellers were located in the basements of "council houses," 
which were equivalent to town halls. (The oldest rathskeller 
found in Germany today is said to date from the first half of 
the 13th century.) The earliest known use of "rathskeller" in 
English dates from 1766, but the word wasn't commonly used until the 1900s. 
Although the German word is now 
spelled "Ratskeller," English writers have always preferred the 
spelling with the "h" -- most likely to avoid any association 
with the word "rat."