Perioeci
[per-ee-ee-sahy]
- the inhabitants of ancient Laconia, constituting a dependent people of Sparta, who governed themselves and had a monopoly on trade and manufacture.Compare Helot(def 1), Spartiate.
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Origin of Perioeci
1585–95; < Medieval Latin perioecī < Greek períoikoi countryside dwellers, noun use of plural of períoikos neighboring, equivalent to peri- peri- + -oikos, adj. derivative of oîkos house
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for perioeci
Historical Examples
They had much the same position as the perioeci in ancient Sparta.
Besides the Helots, the Spartans exercised an authority over the intermediate class called the Perioeci.
Athens: Its Rise and Fall, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
The whole number taken, whether true-born Spartans or Perioeci, amounted to more than one hundred.
HellenicaXenophon
The provinces under Spartan rule were divided into thirty thousand parts, a part for each Perioeci family.
History of EducationLevi Seeley