<P> A pub, or public house, is an establishment licensed to sell alcoholic drinks, which traditionally include beer (such as ale) and cider . It is a relaxed, social drinking establishment and a prominent part of British, Irish, Breton, New Zealand, Canadian, South African and Australian cultures . In many places, especially in villages, a pub is the focal point of the community . In his 17th - century diary Samuel Pepys described the pub as "the heart of England". </P> <P> Pubs can be traced back to Roman taverns, through the Anglo - Saxon alehouse to the development of the tied house system in the 19th century . In 1393, King Richard II of England introduced legislation that pubs had to display a sign outdoors to make them easily visible for passing ale tasters, who would assess the quality of ale sold . Most pubs focus on offering beers, ales and similar drinks . As well, pubs often sell wines, spirits, and soft drinks, meals and snacks . The owner, tenant or manager (licensee) is known as the pub landlord or landlady, or publican . Referred to as their "local" by regulars, pubs are typically chosen for their proximity to home or work, the availability of a particular beer or ale or a good selection, good food, a social atmosphere, the presence of friends and acquaintances, and the availability of recreational activities such as a darts team, a skittles team, and a pool or snooker table . The pub quiz was established in the UK in the 1970s . </P> <P> The inhabitants of the British Isles have been drinking ale since the Bronze Age, but it was with the arrival of the Roman Empire on its shores in the 1st Century, and the construction of the Roman road networks that the first inns, called tabernae, in which travellers could obtain refreshment, began to appear . After the departure of Roman authority in the 5th Century and the fall of the Romano - British kingdoms, the Anglo - Saxons established alehouses that grew out of domestic dwellings . The Anglo - Saxon alewife would put a green bush up on a pole to let people know her brew was ready . These alehouses quickly evolved into meeting houses for the folk to socially congregate, gossip and arrange mutual help within their communities . Herein lies the origin of the modern public house, or "pub" as it is colloquially called in England . They rapidly spread across the kingdom, becoming so commonplace that in 965 King Edgar decreed that there should be no more than one alehouse per village . </P> <P> A traveller in the early Middle Ages could obtain overnight accommodation in monasteries, but later a demand for hostelries grew with the popularity of pilgrimages and travel . The Hostellers of London were granted guild status in 1446 and in 1514 the guild became the Worshipful Company of Innholders . A survey in 1577 of drinking establishment in England and Wales for taxation purposes recorded 14,202 alehouses, 1,631 inns, and 329 taverns, representing one pub for every 187 people . </P>

Where did the term public house come from
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