syneisaktism
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word syneisaktism. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word syneisaktism, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say syneisaktism in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word syneisaktism you have here. The definition of the word syneisaktism will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofsyneisaktism, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Ancient Greek συνείσακτος (suneísaktos, “(adjective) introduced together; (noun) participant in syneisaktism”), from συνεισάγω (suneiságō, “to bring in together”), from συν- (sun-, “together”) + εἰσάγω (eiságō, “to bring in, introduce”).
Noun
syneisaktism (uncountable)
- (historical, religion, Christianity) The practice, from early Christian until mediaeval times, of a man and woman living together in a non-legalised relationship while observing vows of chastity.
- 1993, Dyan Elliott, Spiritual Marriage: Sexual Abstinence in Medieval Wedlock, Princeton University Press, page 34:
- Elizabeth Clark argues cogently that syneisaktism provided a couple with a rare opportunity for friendship between the sexes. […] John Chrysostom, for example, who wrote two treatises against syneisaktism, was also a powerful advocate for female virginity, which he occasionally presented as a means of escaping Eve's curse of subordination.
- 1998, Kenneth B. Steinhauser, “The Aesthetics of Paradise: Images of Women in Christian Antiquity”, in Joseph Martos, Pierre Hégy, editors, Equal at the Creation: Sexism, Society, and Christian Thought, University of Toronto Press, page 55:
- John Chrysostom (d. 407) wrote two treatises on the practice of syneisaktism - spiritual marriage between male and female ascetics - which was popular and widespread after the second century. Some assert that it represented the solution to a practical problem; since few convents were available until the fifth century, syneisaktism gave female ascetics a place to live without going off into the desert.
- 2017, Jana Marguerite Bennett, Singleness and the Church: A New Theology of the Single Life, Oxford University Press, page 211:
- Some have read in this text the possibility of a form of syneisaktism, or “spiritual marriage,” which would have involved living together but would not have involved sexual activity. Paul clearly separates syneisaktism from getting married, which is why I am naming it here as a form of cohabitation.
Usage notes
The practice was often viewed with suspicion and disapproval. Females so "introduced" into a man's household were sometimes called virgines subintroductae — "virgins introduced secretly" — or simply subintroductae; other, less negatively loaded terms are Agapetae (“beloved ones”) and syneisaktoi.
Alternative forms
Synonyms
- (practice of non-legalised chaste relationship): spiritual marriage
See also
Further reading
Mariage blanc on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - Religion and sexuality on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
