ecumene

• oecumene, œcumene (archaic)

From Ancient Greek οἰκουμένη (oikouménē, “inhabited world”), from οἰκέω (oikéō, “I inhabit, dwell”), from οἶκος (oîkos, “residence”).

• IPA^(key): /iːˈkjuː.mə.ni/

ecumene (plural ecumenes)

1. (archaic, inherently emic) All known inhabited and civilized areas of the world.

   Antonyms: anecumene, wilderness, wilds, wastelands

   Near-synonym: civilization

   • 1969, Norton Ginsburg, edited by Joseph Kitagawa, Understanding Modern China‎^[1], Quadrangle Books, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 59:

     Ninety-five per cent of the cultivated area of the country lies east of a line drawn from Tsitsihar (Ch'i-ch'i-ha-erh) in northern Manchuria to K'un-ming in Yün-nan Province. This is eastern China, and within it is the Chinese ecumene.

2. (religion) Unification of Christianity and of Christendom.

Sometimes functioning as a proper noun and capitalized, for the same reasons as with world/World, universe/Universe, and others.

Borrowed from Ancient Greek οἰκουμένη (oikouménē, “inhabited world”), from οἰκέω (oikéō, “I inhabit, dwell”), from οἶκος (oîkos, “residence”).

ecumene f (plural ecumeni)

1. ecumene

• anecumene