enosis

American  

[ih-noh-sis, ee-noh-, e-naw-sees] / ɪˈnoʊ sɪs, iˈnoʊ-, ˈɛ nɔ sis /

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter)

1. a movement for securing the political union of Greece and Cyprus.

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enosis British  

/ ˈɛnəʊsɪs /

noun

1. the union of Greece and Cyprus: the aim of a group of Greek Cypriots

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Other Word Forms

• enosist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of enosis

1935–40; < Modern Greek énōsis, Greek hénōsis union, equivalent to henō-, variant stem of henoûn to unify (derivative of hén, neuter of heîs one) + -sis -sis

Example Sentences

It was not Harding who fired first, however, but Greek Orthodox Archbishop Myriarthefs Makarios, spiritual leader of the island's 410,000 Greek Cypriots and temporal leader of the enosis movement.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Greeks have publicly promised that in return for self-determination and enosis, the British can get ironclad terms for staying in their Cyprus military installations.

From Time Magazine Archive

Moreover, the military regime in Athens has formally abandoned the idea of enosis.

From Time Magazine Archive

Archbishop Makarios III, born Michael Mouskos, became ethnarch in 1950, armed with a church-run plebiscite that showed 97% of all Greek Cypriots in favor of enosis.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Greeks outnumber the Turks 4 to 1, and long before the island won its independence from Britain in 1960, many Greek Cypriots wanted enosis, or union with Greece.

From Time Magazine Archive