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Glite Dictionary
📅 A ruling period 👥 A ruling committee
prytany

prytany

1 9.9
A fixed time when officials hold power in ancient Athens
  • noun
  • /ˈprɪtəni/
  • Archaic
: pritanía
  • Each prytany in ancient Athens lasted about one-tenth of the year.

Examples

  • The council's decisions were reviewed at the end of every prytany.

  • Historians study the records from each prytany to understand Athenian democracy.

  • The prytany governed Athens for ten days.

  • During the prytany, many laws were enacted.

  • During each prytany, the officials implemented new laws for the city-state.

  • The Assembly convened every ten days of the prytany to discuss important matters.

  • Citizens waited for the decisions made during the prytany to affect their daily lives.

Synonyms

archonship
vsprytany
  • Literature
1 9.9

The time when an ancient Greek archon is in charge of a city

refers to a fixed time when a group of officials held power
demarchy
vsprytany
  • Archaic
9.9

A local area that an official manages in ancient Greek city-states

focuses instead on a set period when a council or group governed

Surface Forms

prytany singular
prytanies plural

Etymology

Prytany comes from the ancient Greek words prytaneia and prytaneis, which refer to the 'leaders' who took turns in office. So a prytany was the fixed time when a particular group of those leaders held power.