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phalanstery

 - 3 dictionary results

phal⋅an⋅ster⋅y

  [fal-uhn-ster-ee]
Use phalanstery in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ster⋅ies.
1. (in Fourierism)
a. the buildings occupied by a phalanx.
b. the community itself.
2. any similar association, or the buildings they occupy.
Origin:
1840–50; < F phalanstère, b. phalange phalanx and monastère monastery
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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phal·an·ster·y   (fāl'ən-stěr'ē)   
n.   pl. phal·an·ster·ies

    1. A self-sustaining cooperative community of the followers of Fourierism. Also called phalanx.

    2. The buildings in such a community.

  2. An association resembling a Fourierist phalanstery.


[French phalanstère : phalange, phalanx (from Latin phalanx, phalang-; see phalanx) + (mona)stère, monastery (from Late Latin monastērium; see monastery).]
phal'an·ste'ri·an (-stîr'ē-ən) adj. & n., phal'an·ste'ri·an·ism n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

phalanstery 
1846, name for one of the socialistic communities of c.1,800 people, living together as family, proposed as the basic unit of society in the system of Fr. social scientist François-Marie-Charles Fourier (1772-1837), from Fr. phalanstère, coined by Fourier from phalange, properly "phalanx" + ending after monastère "monastery."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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