-ism

Look up -ism in Wiktionary, the free

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-ism is a suffix in many English words,

originally derived from the Ancient Greek
suffix -ισμός (-ismós), and reaching
English through the Latin -ismus, and the
French -isme.[1] It means "taking side
with" or "imitation of", and is often used
to describe philosophies, theories,
religions, social movements, artistic
movements and behaviors.[2] The suffix "-
ism" is neutral and therefore bears no
connotations associated with any of the
many ideologies it identifies; such
determinations can only be informed by
public opinion regarding specific
ideologies.

The concept of an -ism may resemble

that of a grand narrative.[3]

History
The first recorded usage of the suffix ism
as a separate word in its own right was in
1680. By the nineteenth century it was
being used by Thomas Carlyle to signify
a pre-packaged ideology. It was later
used in this sense by such writers as
Julian Huxley and George Bernard Shaw.
In the United States of the mid-
nineteenth century, the phrase "the isms"
was used as a collective derogatory term
to lump together the radical social reform
movements of the day (such as slavery
abolitionism, feminism, alcohol
prohibitionism, Fourierism, pacifism,
early socialism, etc.) and various spiritual
or religious movements considered non-
mainstream by the standards of the time
(such as Transcendentalism, spiritualism
or "spirit rapping", Mormonism, the
Oneida movement often accused of "free
love", etc.). Southerners often prided
themselves on the American South being
free from all of these pernicious "Isms"
(except for alcohol temperance
campaigning, which was compatible with
a traditional Protestant focus on
individual morality). So on September 5
and 9, 1856, the Examiner newspaper of
Richmond, Virginia ran editorials on "Our
Enemies, the Isms and their Purposes",
while in 1858 "Parson" Brownlow called
for a "Missionary Society of the South, for
the Conversion of the Freedom Shriekers,
Spiritualists, Free-lovers, Fourierites, and
Infidel Reformers of the North" (see The
Freedom-of-thought Struggle in the Old
South by Clement Eaton). In the present
day, it appears in the title of a standard
survey of political thought, Today's Isms
by William Ebenstein, first published in
the 1950s, and now in its 11th edition.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary declared in

December 2015, this word -ism to be the
Word of the Year. A suffix is the Word of
the Year because a small group of words
that share this three-letter ending
triggered both high volume and
significant year-over-year increase in
lookups at Merriam-Webster.com. Taken
together, these seven words represent
millions of individual dictionary
lookups.[4]

See also
For examples of the use of -ism as a
suffix:

List of philosophies
Glossary of philosophy
List of political ideologies
List of art movements

References
1. "-ism" . Oxford English Dictionary
online. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2014. (subscription required)
2. "ism n." . Oxford English Dictionary
online. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2014. (subscription required)
3. Prettejohn, Elizabeth (2012). "The
Discovery of Greek Sculpture". The
Modernity of Ancient Sculpture: Greek
Sculpture and Modern Art from
Winckelmann to Picasso . New Directions
in Classics Series. 2. London: I.B.Tauris.
p. 61. ISBN 9781848859036. "[...] another
grand narrative, no less compelling than
the familiar succession of 'isms' [...]"
4. "The Word of the Year is: -ism |
Merriam-Webster" .

Further reading
Today's Isms: Socialism, Capitalism,
Fascism, Communism, Libertarianism
by Alan Ebenstein, William Ebenstein
and Edwin Fogelman (11th ed,
Pearson, 1999, ISBN 978-0130257147)
Isms and Ologies: 453 Difficult
Doctrines You've Always Pretended to
Understand by Arthur Goldwag
(Quercus, 2007, ISBN 978-
1847241764) ranges from
Abolitionism to Zoroastrianism.
Isms: Understanding Art by Stephen
Little (A & C Black, 2004, ISBN 978-
0713670110), one of a series of similar
titles including ... Architecture, ...
Modern Art, ... Fashion and ... Religions.
The Ism Book: A Field Guide to
Philosophy by Peter Saint-Andre.
www.rameezism.com by Rameez
Qaiser
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=-
ism&oldid=859955069"

Last edited 24 days ago by Orphan…

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