ism

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a distinctive doctrine, theory, cause, or movement, especially one named with the suffix -ism

   The critic distrusted every political ism that promised a perfect society.

2. 2
   noun

   a form of prejudice or discrimination identified by a word ending in -ism

   The workshop examined racism, ageism, and every related ism in workplace policy.

The noun was formed from the suffix -ism and came to mean any doctrine or movement bearing that ending. The suffix reached English through French and Latin from Greek -ismos, which formed nouns denoting actions, practices, states, or systems of belief.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images