ostracism
/ˈɒs trəˌsɪz əm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.34 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
In ancient Athens (and some other cities), the temporary banishment by popular vote of a citizen considered dangerous to the state.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "For this manner of banishment for a time, called ostracismos, was no punishment for any fault committed, but a mitigation and taking away of the envy of the people, which delighted to pluck down their stomacks that too much seemed to exceed in greatness: […]"
- "Take the ſweete herbe called pleaſant content; with that make a perfume about your bed chamber and where you dyne: the ſavour of this is as ſure a repulſe to exile melancholie, as the oſtracisme was to the noble of Athens."
- "Witnesse the Ostracisme amongst the Athenians, and the Petalisme among the Siracusans."
- "If I have deserved the land should spue me out, I will feed my selfe with the idle and windy conceite of an Ostracisme, and my unregarded poore selfe shall be all the richesse and commpany I crave to transport and if a Princes word […]"
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ὀστρακισμός (ostrakismós, “banishment by means of voting with pot shards”), from ὀστρακίζω (ostrakízō, “ostracize”) + -ισμός (-ismós, “-ism”), from ὄστρακον (óstrakon, “clay pot”).
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɒs trəˌsɪz əm/
- British English: /ˈɒstɹəsɪz(ə)m/