perioecus

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UK/pɛɹɪˈiːkəs/UK/pɛɹɪˈɔɪkəs/

noun

Someone living on the same latitude as someone else, but on a different or opposite side of the world; one's antithesis.

OriginLate Latin perioeci ← Ancient Greek περίοικοι →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nounperioecus (plural perioeci)

plural perioeci · alternative periœcus

  1. obsoleteSomeone living on the same latitude as someone else, but on a different or opposite side of the world; one's antithesis.

    How comes it to pass, that in the same site, in one latitude, to such as are periœci, there should be such difference of soil, complexion, colour, metal, air, etc.

    1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section ii, member 3

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekπερίοικοι
  2. Late Latinperioeci
  3. Englishperioecus

From Late Latin perioeci, from Ancient Greek περίοικοι (períoikoi), plural of περίοικος (períoikos, “neighbour”), from περι- (peri-, “peri-”) + οἶκος (oîkos, “house”).

More words from Late Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

perioecus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perioecus

MLA

“perioecus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perioecus. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “perioecus,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perioecus.

Source: perioecus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.