English
-ism
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ɪzəm/, /ɪzm̩/
Suffix
  1. Used to form nouns of action or process or result based on the accompanying verb in -ise or -ize.
    baptism (1300), aphorism (1528), criticism (1607), magnetism (1616)
  2. Used to form the name of a system, school of thought or theory based on the name of its subject or object or alternatively on the name of its founder ((when de-capitalized, these overlap with the generic "doctrines" sense below, e.g. Liberalism vs. liberalism)).
    Lutheranism (1560), Calvinism (1570), Protestantism (1606), Congregationalism (1716), Mohammedanism (1815),: Palamism (1949)
  3. Used to form names of a tendency of behaviour, action, state, condition or opinion belonging to a class or group of persons, or the result of a doctrine, ideology or principle or lack thereof.
    atheism (1587), ruffianism (1589), giantism (1639), fanaticism (1652), theism (1678), religionism (1706), patriotism (1716), heroism (1717), despotism (1728), old-maidism (1776), capitalism (1792), nationism (1798), romanticism (1803), conservatism (1832), sexualism (1842), vegetarianism (1848), externalism (1856), young-ladyism (1869), opportunism (1870), blackguardism (1875), jingoism (1878), feminism (1895), dwarfism (1895)
  4. Used to form nouns indicating a peculiarity or characteristic of language
    Atticism (1612), Gallicism (1656), archaism (1709), Americanism (1781), colloquialism (1834), newspaperism (1838), Shakespearianism (1886)
  5. Used to form names of ideologies expressing belief in the superiority of a certain class within the concept expressed by the root word, or a pattern of behavior or a social norm that benefits members of the group indicated by the root word. ((based on a late 20th-century narrowing of the "terms for a doctrine" sense))
    racism (1932), sexism (1936), classism (1971), speciesism (1975), heterosexism (1979), ableism (1981)
  6. (medicine) Used to form names of conditions or syndromes
    crotalism, daturism, latrodectism, loxoscelism, cocainism, rheumatism
Related terms Translations

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