Why this word is great
PROXENY — [Noun] In Ancient Greece, a civic institution wherein a designated citizen hosted foreign envoys at personal cost, earning ceremonial honors in return. From Ancient Greek προξενία (proxenía, "proxeny"), derived from πρόξενος (próxenos, "public guest-friend"), from πρό (pró, "before, for") + ξένος (xénos, "foreigner, guest"). Unlike "xenia" (the fluid bonds of private guest-friendship) or "diplomacy" (the cold calculus of modern embassies), proxeny was both a burden and a privilege—a civic liturgy performed in the shadow of the agora. It was the smell of roasting lamb drifting from the andron to the street, the weight of a bronze tablet engraved with titles, the quiet pride of knowing your home had become a threshold between cities. A reminder that even politics begins with breaking bread.