Word.ws English Dictionary

petalism

UK/ˈpɛtəlɪz(ə)m/

petalism noun: a form of ostracism among the ancient Syracusans by which they temporarily banished a citizen suspected of having dangerous influence or ambition.

Noun

petalism (countable and uncountable, plural petalisms)

  1. (historical) A form of ostracism among the ancient Syracusans by which they temporarily banished a citizen suspected of having dangerous influence or ambition.
    • Witnesse the Ostracisme amongst the Athenians, and the Petalisme among the Siracusans.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 32, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
    • They've identified a reference to the ancient Syracusian practice of banishment known as petalism, and what may or may not be a reference to efilism, a branch of the antinatalist philosophical position advanced by Schopenhauer, but what any of that has to do with the lyrics' subsequent allusions to...2014 July 24, Alexis Petridis, “Shabazz Palaces: Lese Majesty review – spectacular, way-out hip-hop”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 25 Jul 2014

Synonyms of petalism

All synonyms of petalism

Forms of petalism

pluralpetalisms

Origin of petalism

From Middle French petalisme, and its source, Hellenistic Ancient Greek πεταλισμός (petalismós), from πέταλον (pétalon, “leaf”) (because the ballot for banishment was written on olive leaves). By surface analysis, petal + -ism.

Questions about petalism

What does petalism mean?
Petalism means a form of ostracism among the ancient Syracusans by which they temporarily banished a citizen suspected of having dangerous influence or ambition.
What part of speech is petalism?
Petalism is a noun.
How do you pronounce petalism?
Petalism is pronounced /ˈpɛtəlɪz(ə)m/ (UK).
What is the plural of petalism?
The plural of petalism is petalisms.

Words near petalism in the dictionary

  1. petalification
  2. petaliform
  3. petaline
  4. petaling
  5. Petaling Jaya
  6. petalism
  7. petalisms
  8. petalite
  9. petaliter
  10. petaliters
  11. petalites

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: petalism (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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