Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In Greek antiquity, a public vote of an assembly, specifically of an assembly of the Athenian people; a decree or statute enacted by such a vote.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Gr. Antiq.) A proposition adopted by a majority of votes; especially, one adopted by vote of the Athenian people; a statute.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun historical, Ancient Greece A
proposition adopted by amajority ofvotes , especially by the vote of theAthenian people; astatute .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Ancient Greek ψήφισμα (psēphisma, "a decree") from ψηφίζω (psēphizō, "to vote")
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Examples
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“There was a rule in Attic judicial procedure, called the psephism of Kannonus (originally adopted, we do not know when, on the proposition of a citizen of that name, as a psephism or decree for some particular case, but since generalised into common practice, and grown into great prescriptive reverence), which peremptorily forbade any such collective trial or sentence, and directed that a separate judicial vote should in all cases be taken for or against each accused party.”
Hellenica 2007
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