vigintivirate means A group of twenty people, especially (politics) a council of twenty men sharing an office or rule and particularly (historical) such an administrative council in ancient Rome. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
VIGINTIVIRATE — [Noun] An administrative council or college of twenty persons, specifically the collective of minor magistrates in ancient Rome. From the Latin vīgintivirātus, from vīgintivir ("a board of twenty men") and the suffix -ātus (denoting office or function). Unlike a triumvirate—which concentrates power into a potent, dramatic triad—or a committee—a vague and shapeless modern convenience—a vigintivirate is bureaucracy made numeral, an exercise in deliberate dilution. It is the weary heat of consensus debated by two-score hands, the hollow echo of twenty gavels striking a marble block in unison, the profound inertia of a decree ratified by a precise, statutory quorum—a formal monument to the faith that the problems of statecraft could be managed by the sheer, anonymous weight of number.
noun
- A group of twenty people, especially (politics) a council of twenty men sharing an office or rule and particularly (historical) such an administrative council in ancient Rome.