petalism

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈpɛtəlɪz(ə)m/

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. [from 17th c.]
    • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 32, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
      Witnesse the Ostracisme amongst the Athenians, and the Petalisme among the Siracusans.
    • 2014 July 24, Alexis Petridis, “Shabazz Palaces: Lese Majesty review – spectacular, way-out hip-hop”, in The Guardian‎[1], archived from the original on 25 July 2014:
      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 Moby-Dick seems pretty open to question.

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