psephism

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word psephism. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word psephism, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say psephism in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word psephism you have here. The definition of the word psephism will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofpsephism, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology

Ancient Greek ψήφισμα (psḗphisma, a decree) from ψηφίζω (psēphízō, to vote)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsiːfɪzəm/, /ˈsɛfɪzəm/

Noun

psephism (plural psephisms)

  1. (historical, Ancient Greece) A proposition adopted by a majority of votes, especially by the vote of the Athenian people; a statute.
    Synonym: psephisma
    • 1694, John Potter, Archaeologica Graeca:
      No psephism shall pass to the commons before the senate's supervisal. The tablets on which the psephisms are engraved are by no means to be removed.
    • 1880, John Pentland Mahaffy, History of Classical Greek Literature:
      The well-known story of the Spartan psephism quoted by Boethius de musica, via. that the Spartans ordered him to cut off four of his eleven strings [] is contradicted by the present text