10 June 2014
ostracise / ostracize
[os-truh-sahyz]
verb (used with object), os·tra·cised, os·tra·cis·ing.
1. to exclude, by general consent, from society, friendship, conversation, privileges, etc, social rejection: His friends ostracised him after his father’s arrest.
2. to banish (a person) from his or her native country; expatriate.
3. (in ancient Greece) to banish (a citizen) temporarily by popular vote.
Also, especially British, os·tra·cise. American, ostracize.
Origin:
1640–50; < Greek ostrakízein, equivalent to óstrak ( on ) potsherd, tile, ballot (akin to óstreion oyster, shell) + -izein -ize
In the ancient city-state of Athens, ‘ostracism’ was an annual voting process to expel citizens who were considered to be a threat to the state or a potential tyrant. To be ostracised, meant to be exiled for 10 years from Athens. Ostraka referred to pottery shards that were used as voting tokens. Broken pottery was in abundance and was used as a kind of scrap paper as papyrus was too costly. Each year, Athenians would vote on whether to hold an ostracism. If ‘yes’, then names of nominees was scratched on the ostraka and submitted to the scribe in the Agora (assembly) and deposited in urns. Presiding officials then counted and sorted the shards into piles. The person with the biggest pile was ostracised if it met certain criteria. According to Plutarch, the vote was valid if the total number of votes cast was 6,000. According to Philochorus, the vote was valid if the ‘winner’ obtained at least 6,000 votes. Ostracism was outside of the justice process; there was no charge and no defence.
Related forms
os·tra·cis·a·ble, adjective
os·tra·ci·sa·tion, noun
os·tra·cis·er, noun
Synonyms
1. shun, snub, blacklist.
Antonyms
1. accept.
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Today’s aphorism
Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.
– Charles Dickens
On this day
10 June 323 BC – death of Alexander the Great, Macedonian King. He conquered the Persia Empire, which ruled Asia Minor, The Levant and Syria, Egypt, Assyria and Babylonia. He then invaded India before returning to Persia. He died in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon, most likely by poisoning. Born 20 July 356 BC.
10 June 1838 – Myall Creek Massacre in Australia. 28 aborigines are murdered by 11 stockmen (10 Europeans and an African). After two trials, seven of the 11 colonialists involved in the killings were found guilty of murder and hanged on 18 December 1838. The leader of the colonialists, John Fleming, was never found. He was suspected of further massacres in the Liverpool Plains and New England regions. His brother, Joseph, was linked to massacres in the Maranoa area of Queensland.
10 June 1916 – British Army officer, Lawrence of Arabia leads an Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire.
10 June 1935 – Alcoholics Anonymous founded by two recovering alcoholics, using a 12-step program to help alcoholics overcome their addiction.
10 June 1967 – end of the Six Day War, when Israel and the Arab coalition consisting of Egypt, Jordan & Syria, agree to a UN mediated cease-fire.