noun
- plural of psephite; small rounded pebbles or gravel, especially those used in ancient Greece for voting by casting pebbles
Usage: historical; geology
Examples
- In ancient Athens, citizens used psephites to cast their votes in the assembly.
- The beach was covered with psephites worn smooth by centuries of wave action.
- Archaeologists discovered psephites in the ruins of the ancient voting chamber.
- The term psephites derives from the Greek word for pebble used in democratic voting.
- Geologists classify psephites as sedimentary rock fragments.