Meanings
plural psephisms
- historicalAncient GreeceA proposition adopted by a majority of votes, especially by the vote of the Athenian people; a statute.
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.
1694, John Potter, Archaeologica Graeca1 more example
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
1880, John Pentland Mahaffy, History of Classical Greek LiteratureSynonyms: psephisma
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA proposition adopted by a majority of votes, especially by the vote of the Athenian people; a statute.
Origin
- Ancient Greekψήφισμα“a decree”
- Englishpsephism
Ancient Greek ψήφισμα (psḗphisma, “a decree”) from ψηφίζω (psēphízō, “to vote”)
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
psephism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/psephism
“psephism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/psephism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “psephism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/psephism.
Source: psephism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.