What does "atticism" mean?
Attachment to, collaboration with, favouring of, or siding with Athens or Athenians, especially in the context of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 B.C.E.).
Atticism
/ˈatɪsɪzm/ noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Attachment to, collaboration with, favouring of, or siding with Athens or Athenians, especially in the context of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 B.C.E.).
- Grammar: atticism is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: attic diction, attic school, attic style, atticism movement.
- Useful contrasts: Asiatic movement, Asiatic style, ornamental style.
- Usage evidence: The ſame Summer, the Thebans demoliſhed the walles of the Theſpians, laying Atticiſme to their charge.
How to use "atticism"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "atticism" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "atticism" in a final draft.
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Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "atticism" is acting as noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
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3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 Attachment to, collaboration with, favouring of, or siding with Athens or Athenians, especially in the context of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 B.C.E.). uncountable
"The ſame Summer, the Thebans demoliſhed the walles of the Theſpians, laying Atticiſme to their charge."
- 2 The prestige dialect of Classical Greek, as spoken and written by the inhabitants of Attica (chiefly Athens) in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E.; Attic Greek.; The enduring rhetorical movement, begun in the 1st century B.C.E., whose members strove to emulate the style of the best Attic orators of that Classical period; especially in contrast with Asianism or Hellenism. (Its leading early proponent, Dionysius of Halicarnassus [c. 60–p. 7 B.C.E.], identified Lysias [c. 445–380 B.C.E.] as “the perfect model of the Attic dialect”, whose virtues he enumerates to be “purity of language, correct dialect, the presentation of ideas by means of standard, not figurative expressions; clarity, brevity, concision, terseness, vivid representation…, the pleasing arrangement of words after the manner of ordinary speech…, charm and a sense of timing which regulates everything else”.) countable, singular, singular-only, uncountable
- 3 The prestige dialect of Classical Greek, as spoken and written by the inhabitants of Attica (chiefly Athens) in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E.; Attic Greek.; The enduring rhetorical movement, begun in the 1st century B.C.E., whose members strove to emulate the style of the best Attic orators of that Classical period; especially in contrast with Asianism or Hellenism. (Its leading early proponent, Dionysius of Halicarnassus [c. 60–p. 7 B.C.E.], identified Lysias [c. 445–380 B.C.E.] as “the perfect model of the Attic dialect”, whose virtues he enumerates to be “purity of language, correct dialect, the presentation of ideas by means of standard, not figurative expressions; clarity, brevity, concision, terseness, vivid representation…, the pleasing arrangement of words after the manner of ordinary speech…, charm and a sense of timing which regulates everything else”.); The stylistic principles of Greek Atticism in application to other languages, especially to Latin. broadly, countable, dated, historical, singular, singular-only, uncountable
- 4 The prestige dialect of Classical Greek, as spoken and written by the inhabitants of Attica (chiefly Athens) in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E.; Attic Greek.; An expression or idiom characteristic of or peculiar to Attic Greek, especially an elegant and refined, if grammatically irregular, usage. countable, singular, singular-only
"By the Cardinals own confeſsion, this Agapetus liued at Conſtantinople in Iuſtinians time: where it was a great matter for him, no doubt, in ſo long time, to learn to make ſuch a Greek booke as this is; which yet for the ſtile and Atticiſmes, comes a great deale ſhort of Baronius commendation."
- 5 The prestige dialect of Classical Greek, as spoken and written by the inhabitants of Attica (chiefly Athens) in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E.; Attic Greek.; A refined felicity or well-turned phrase, especially one deemed ungrammatical. (In Newcome, aposiopesis, dislocation, and inverse attraction, respectively.) broadly, countable, singular, singular-only
"There while they acted, and overacted, among other young ſcholars, I was a ſpectator; they thought themſelves gallant men, and I thought them fools, they made ſport, and I laught, they miſpronounc’t and I miſlik’t, and to make up the atticiſme, they were out, and I hiſt."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Asiatic movementAsiatic styleornamental styleornate diction
Example
"The ſame Summer, the Thebans demoliſhed the walles of the Theſpians, laying Atticiſme to their charge."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "atticism"?
Common synonyms include: attic diction, attic school, attic style, atticism movement, atticization, atticizing diction.
How do you use "atticism" in a sentence?
The ſame Summer, the Thebans demoliſhed the walles of the Theſpians, laying Atticiſme to their charge.
How do you pronounce "atticism"?
Pronounced /ˈatɪsɪzm/.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ᾰ̓ττῐκῐσμός (ăttĭkĭsmós). By surface analysis, Attic + -ism.