atticism

[ at-uh-siz-uhm ]

noun

, (often initial capital letter)

1. the style or idiom of Attic Greek occurring in another dialect or language.
2. attachment to Athens or to the style, customs, etc., of the Athenians.
3. concise and elegant expression, diction, or the like.

Atticism

/ ˈætɪˌsɪzəm /

noun

1. the idiom or character of the Attic dialect of Ancient Greek, esp in the Hellenistic period
2. an elegant, simple, and clear expression

Derived Forms

• ˈAtticist, noun

Other Words From

• atti·cist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of atticism¹

First recorded in 1605–15, atticism is from the Greek word Attikismós a siding with Athens, an Attic expression. See Attic, -ism

Example Sentences

These are sometimes called Asiatic, Attic, and Rhodian: hence “Atticism” and “Asianism” in this book’s glossary.

From Literature

Sainte-Beuve calls Terence the bond of union between Roman urbanity and the Atticism of the Greeks, and adds that it was in the seventeenth century, when French literature was most truly Attic, that he was most appreciated.

From Project Gutenberg

This classical renaissance turned back the literary language into the old ossified forms, as had previously happened in the case of the Atticism of the early centuries of the empire.

From Project Gutenberg

This gulf was, moreover, considerably widened owing to the fact that there took place in the written language a retrograde movement, the so-called “Atticism.”

From Project Gutenberg

He admits, that Attic eloquence approached the nearest to perfection; he pauses, however, to correct a prevailing error, that the only genuine Atticism is a correct, plain, and slender discourse, distinguished by purity of style, and delicacy of taste, but void of all ornaments and redundance.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• grandeur