-ism
Etymology

Ultimately from either Ancient Greek -ισμός, a suffix that forms abstract nouns of action, state, condition, doctrine, from stem of verbs in -ίζειν (whence English -ize); or from the related suffix Ancient Greek -ισμα, which more specifically expressed a finished act or thing done.

Many English nouns in -ism are loans of Greek nouns in -ισμός, often via Latin and French, such as Judaism, a learned English formation from Latin attested from ca.

Productivity from root words with evidently non-Latin and non-Greek origin dates to the late 18th century (e.

Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ɪzəm/, [ɪz.m̩]
Suffix
  1. Used to form nouns of action, process, or result based on the accompanying verb ending in -ise or -ize.
    baptism (1300), aphorism (1528), criticism (1607), magnetism (1616)
  2. Used to form the name of a school of thought, system, 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 action, behaviour, condition, opinion, or state 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 countable 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 (syndromes, diseases, disorders, defects, addictions) and therapeutical methods or doctrines.
    aleydigism, daturism, senilism, teratism, cocainism, climatism, humorism
Related terms Translations


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