Third place
Etymology
Coined by American sociologist Ray Oldenburg in "The Great Good Place" (1989), contrasting the "third place" with the "first place" (home) and the "second place" (work). Flagged as a coinage.
noun phrase · /THURD PLAYS/
A social setting apart from home and work — a café, park, barbershop, or pub — where informal community life happens.
What it names
A handle for the casual gathering spots that knit a neighborhood together, useful for diagnosing modern loneliness and why it grows as they vanish.
Example
When the diner closed, the town lost its last third place — the one spot where strangers still became regulars.
Related idea
Compare gemütlichkeit, the cozy conviviality a good third place produces; the third place is the venue, gemütlichkeit the feeling.