-ism

The English suffix -ism was first used to form a noun of action from a verb, as in baptism, from baptein, a Greek word meaning "to dip". Its usage was later extended to signify larger organized systems and concepts —in belief, ideology, doctrine, and ritual practice.

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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.

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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.

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The -ism suffix can be used to express the following concepts:

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• doctrine, theory or religion (e.g. pacifism)
• theory developed by an individual (e.g. Marxism)
• political movement (e.g. feminism)
• action, process or practice (e.g. terrorism)
• characteristic, quality or origin (e.g. heroism)
• state or condition (e.g. pauperism)
• excess or disease (e.g. botulism)
• prejudice or bias (e.g. racism)
• characteristic speech patterns (e.g. Yogiism)
-ism: See also ►



 

English: English in common usage may refer to:...

Suffix: Suffix has meanings in linguistics, nomenclature and computer science....

Noun: A noun, or noun substantive, is a word or phrase that refers to a person, place, thing, event, substance or quality. Nouns are parts of speech and can be classified in different ways such as proper nouns (e.g. "Janet") versus common nouns (e.g. "girl"), or collective nouns (e.g. "bunch", "herd"). N...




-ism related Images and Photos (experimental)

Entourage 'Ari-ism #8' T-Shirt

Entourage Men's 'Ari-ism #54' T-Shirt