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

The Turks probably trust Caramanlis and Mavros much more than the junta be cause the two civilians have never strongly advocated enosis � unification of Greece and Cyprus.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

This threw Turkish Cypriots into a panic, since they well knew that the announced goal of Makarios and the Greek Cypriots is enosis, that is, eventual union with Greece.

From Time Magazine Archive

By 1943, the Reds had latched onto enosis and won major municipal elections by appealing to Greek passions.

From Time Magazine Archive

Instead they proposed taksim, a kind of double enosis that would enable the Turkish sectors of the island to unite with Turkey and the Greek with Greece.

From Time Magazine Archive