psephisma

Forms

psēphisma n (genitive psēphismatis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ψήφισμα (psḗphisma, “decree of an assembly”),^[2][3][4] a noun from ψηφίζω (psēphízō, “to count with pebbles; to put to the vote, decide”), itself from ψῆφος (psêphos, “pebble, voting pebble”).^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it in the speech for Flaccus of decrees of Greek cities, which he says were extorted by threats and promises and passed in a turbulent assembly.^[5][6][4]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short equate it with the Roman plēbiscītum.^[7] Under the Empire Pliny the Younger uses it of an address of thanks that a Greek community voted to the emperor.^[6][7] Du Cange records it in the Latin text of Justinian's Novels and in Greek–Latin glossaries, glossed as a resolution or decree.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the decrees of Greek cities.^[5][6][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A decree or resolution of a popular assembly in a Greek city.^[2][6][9]
2. An address of thanks voted to the emperor by a Greek community.^[6]

Related words

• plēbiscītum

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.