pseph-
English
Etymology
From the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek ψῆφος (psêphos, “pebble”); the later, electoral sense stems from the ancient Athenian method of voting by putting a pebble in a ballot box (for which sense see psephisma and psephophoria).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 331: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: psēf, psĕf, IPA(key): /psiːf/, /psɛf/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 331: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: psēf, IPA(key): /psif/
Prefix
pseph-
- pebble, small stone
- voting, election; ballot box
Usage notes
- When combined with a word or another affix which begins with a consonant, this prefix concatenates with the interfix -o- (as psepho-).
- Of the pronunciations in use, psēf— is the most etymologically consistent.
Derived terms
Terms derived in the sense “pebble”, “small stone”
Terms derived in the sense “voting”, “election”; “ballot box”
Related terms
Terms ultimately deriving from ψῆφος (psēphos, “pebble”) but not formed with this prefix
- psephism (Ancient Greek history)
- psephisma (Ancient Greek history)
- psephophoria
References
- “psepho-” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]
- “psepho-, comb. form” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [draft revision; June 2008]