ecumene
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Ancient Greek οἰκουμένη (oikouménē, “inhabited world”), from οἰκέω (oikéō, “I inhabit, dwell”), from οἶκος (oîkos, “residence”).
Pronunciation
Noun
ecumene (plural ecumenes)
- (archaic, inherently emic) All known inhabited and civilized areas of the world.
- Antonyms: anecumene, wilderness, wilds, wastelands
- Near-synonym: civilization
- 1969, Norton Ginsburg, edited by Joseph Kitagawa, Understanding Modern China, Quadrangle Books, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 59:
- Ninety-five per cent of the cultivated area of the country lies east of a line drawn from Tsitsihar (Ch'i-ch'i-ha-erh) in northern Manchuria to K'un-ming in Yün-nan Province. This is eastern China, and within it is the Chinese ecumene.
- (religion) Unification of Christianity and of Christendom.
Usage notes
Sometimes functioning as a proper noun and capitalized, for the same reasons as with world/World, universe/Universe, and others.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
inhabited areas of the world
See also
Italian
Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek οἰκουμένη (oikouménē, “inhabited world”), from οἰκέω (oikéō, “I inhabit, dwell”), from οἶκος (oîkos, “residence”).
Noun
ecumene f (plural ecumeni)