ecumene

[ ek-yoo-muh-nee ]

noun

1. the inhabited world; global civilization united by trade, modern culture, etc.:

   The older mosaic of separate cultures and societies is being replaced, creating an ecumene of interconnectedness.

2. especially historically, the area inhabited, dominated, or known by a society or civilization, often the core as contrasted with outlying areas or colonies:

   In many dynastic periods the Chinese government imposed different policies in the frontier zones than in the ecumene.

   Ptolemy’s only mapmaking interest was in representing the Greek ecumene, or the known inhabited world.

3. the worldwide community comprising adherents of all the diverse branches of a particular faith, especially Christianity:

   The blood of the martyrs, past and present, is a foundation for seeking the unity of the whole Christian ecumene.

4. the inhabited area of a country or civilization, or the portion of it corresponding to a particular population, economic activity, ecozone, etc.:

   The Agricultural Ecumene census division includes areas of significant agricultural activity according to the last census.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ecumene¹

First recorded in 1800–10; from Late Latin oecumene, from Greek oikouménē; ecumenical ( def )

Example Sentences

It was no longer a mere question of pushing through a recognition that China, hitherto regarded by the Chinese as the ecumene of civilization, was a nation, and not even an equal to the other nations.

From Project Gutenberg

In the process, McNeill sees the original Eurasian ecumene absorbed and replaced by a new globe-girdling and all-embracing community of civilization.

From Time Magazine Archive

The opening of the silk road effected what Historian William McNeill calls the "closure of the ecumene"�his term for the great community of civilization, thus linked together across the land mass of Eurasia from extreme East to farthest West.

From Time Magazine Archive

Promoted by the vast extension of the geographical limits of the Greek world resulting from Alexander's conquests, and by his policy of breaking down the barriers between Greek and barbarian, the idea was reflected in the Stoic doctrine that all men are brothers, and that a man's true country is not his own particular city, but the ecumene.

From Project Gutenberg

We may conveniently call it the ecumenical idea—the principle of the ecumene or inhabited world, as opposed to the principle of the polis or city.

From Project Gutenberg