Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The highest judicial and legislative council of ancient Athens.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A rocky hill in Athens, situated immediately to the west of the Acropolis; hence, the sovereign tribunal or council of elders which held its sittings on this hill from unrecorded antiquity.
  • noun Hence Any body, company, or tribunal of which the decisions, opinions, or criticisms are final or carry great weight: as, the Areopagus of public opinion.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The highest judicial court at Athens. Its sessions were held on Mars' Hill. Hence, any high court or tribunal.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The supreme judicial and legislative council of ancient Athens

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the highest governmental assembly in ancient Athens (later a judicial court)
  • noun a hill to the to the west of the Athenian acropolis where met the highest governmental council of ancient Athens and later a judicial court

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, from Greek Areios pagos, Areiopagos, hill of Ares, Areopagus (where the tribunal met) : Areios, of Ares (from Arēs, Ares) + pagos, stiff mass, hill (from pēgnunai, pag-, to stick, stiffen; see pag- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek Άρειος Πάγος ("Areios Pagos"), the "Rock of Ares", which in classical times functioned as the high Court of Appeal for criminal and civil cases in Athens.

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Examples

  • Two are particularly named; one was an eminent man, Dionysius the Areopagite, one of that high court or great council that sat in Areopagus, or Mars '

    Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume VI (Acts to Revelation) 1721

  • Ares was acquitted, and this event is supposed to have given rise to the name Areopagus (or Hill of

    Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome E.M. Berens

  • Areopagus was composed of those who had served as Archons; for which latter reason the membership of the Areopagus is the only office which has continued to be a life-magistracy to the present day.

    The Athenian Constitution 2002

  • Areopagus was composed of those who had served as Archons; for which latter reason the membership of the Areopagus is the only office which has continued to be a life-magistracy to the present day.

    The Athenian Constitution 2002

  • If one tries to understand it correctly, however, it will become obvious that the speech on the Areopagus is a powerful attack on the racial rites, myths and ethos of the Greeks.

    THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH IN SOUTH AFRICA AND THE IDEOLOGY AND PRACTICE OF APARTHEID(1) 1971

  • This was the natural consequence of the facts that the Archons were elected under qualifications of birth and wealth, and that the Areopagus was composed of those who had served as Archons; for which latter reason the membership of the Areopagus is the only office which has continued to be a life-magistracy to the present day.

    THE ATHENIAN CONSTITUTION 1961

  • The Areopagus was the tribunal for the trial of cases wherein the charge against an individual was wilful murder and wounding, or a charge of arson or poisoning.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 12: Philip II-Reuss 1840-1916 1913

  • Archons; for which latter reason the membership of the Areopagus is the only office which has continued to be a life-magistracy to the present day.

    The Athenian Constitution 384 BC-322 BC Aristotle 1907

  • The Areopagus was a rocky height in Athens, opposite the western end of the

    Smith's Bible Dictionary 1884

  • Not far from the Areopagus is the Pnyx, where the free people of

    A Woman's Journey Round the World Ida Pfeiffer 1827

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