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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

porphyrogenitism en · NOUN

Etymology

From porphyrogenite + -ism.

Meanings

  1. (rare, uncountable) The principle of succession in royal families, especially among the Eastern Roman emperors, by which a younger son, if born after the accession of his father to the throne, was preferred to an elder son who was born prior to it.
    • The doctrine of Porphyrogenitism, congenial to popular sentiment, and not without some foundation in principle, prevailed influentially and widely in many countries. 1851, Francis Palgrave, The History of Normandy and of England:
    • The only legitimate spouse for a Ptolemy was a princess of the royal house, and generally a daughter not of a crown prince, but of a consecrated king. The evidence of this porphyrogenitism in the dynasty is quite clear. 1915, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, volume 2: