synoecism

English

Alternative forms

• synœcism

Etymology

From Ancient Greek συνοικισμός, from συνοικίζειν (“to make live with, to unite under one city”), from σύν (“together”) + οἰκίζειν (“to colonise”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɪˈniːsɪzəm/

Noun

synoecism (plural synoecisms)

1. (Ancient Greece) The unification of towns, tribes etc. under one capital city or polis.
   • 1886, English History Review, 1886, 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.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. XXX. 529/2.

     When the town was first formed...by the synœcism of the neighboring villages.

Translations

unification under one capital city

• French: synœcisme (fr) m

• Italian: sinecismo (it) m