‖ polyandrium
(pɒlɪˈændrɪəm)
-ion (-ɪən). Pl. -ia.
[Late L. polyandrium, -ion, a. Gr. πολυάνδριον, as below, prop. neut. sing. of πολυάνδριος adj., of or relating to many men.]
In Gr. Antiq. A burial-place for a number of men, esp. those who had fallen in battle. Hence allusively.
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Warwick. (1662) iii. 121 Then each Church yard was indeed a Polyandr[i]um, so that the Dead might seem to justle one another for room therein. 1820 T. S. Hughes Trav. Sicily I. xi. 335 That polyandrium which covered the remains of those brave Thebans who fell in defence of Grecian liberty. 1846 C. Maitland Ch. Catacombs 55 Tombs..mentioned by antiquarians under the name of Polyandria. |