Wiktionary
hetaerism
n. 1 A theoretical early state of human society (as postulated by 19th-century anthropologists) which was characterized by the absence of the institution of marriage in any form, and where women were the common property of their tribe, and the children never knew their fathers. 2 An Ancient Greece custom according to which a man's wife was forbidden to accompany him to many public events, including the banquets or ''symposium'' which made up a large part of Greek social life, and where men sought out the company of courtesans or ''hetaerae'' instead.
Usage examples of "hetaerism".
Penworthy argued theoretically and happily over the origins of the leviratic law one week, and the decline of hetaerism among the ancient Hellenes the next.