synoecism

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: synœcism

English

[edit]

Alternative forms

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Ancient Greek συνοικισμός (sunoikismós), from συνοικίζειν (sunoikízein, to make live with, to unite under one city), from σύν (sún, together) + οἰκίζειν (oikízein, to colonise).

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

synoecism (plural synoecisms)

  1. (Ancient Greece) The unification of towns, tribes etc. under one capital city or polis.
    • 1886, English History Review, I, pg 636:
      They always remained separate states and were never synoikised.
    • 1887, Andrew Lang, Myth, Ritual & Religion, I, pg 266:
      Legends...current before the villages were synoecised into Athens.
    • 1922, Ernest Arthur Gardner, Mantineia, Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. XXX. 529/2:
      When the town was first formed...by the synœcism of the neighboring villages.

Translations

[edit]