psychomachia

British

/ ˌsaɪkəʊˈmækɪə, ˈsaɪkəʊməkɪ /

noun

conflict of the soul

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of psychomachia

C17: from Late Latin psӯchomachia, title of a poem by Prudentius (about 400), from Greek psukhē spirit + makhē battle

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

psychomachia

Miranda’s ravaged inner life is exteriorized as in the medieval genre of psychomachia in which virtue and vice wage a battle for the soul.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 30, 2021

He views his interior life as a psychomachia, a struggle between “the Dictates of my Fancy” and reason, common sense and various premonitions or “secret Hints” from guardian spirits who inhabit an “invisible World.”

From Washington Post ● Apr. 23, 2019

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023