-ism

Look up -ism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

-ism (/-ˌɪzəm/) is a suffix in many English words, originally derived from the Ancient Greek suffix -ισμός (-ismós), and reached English through the Latin -ismus, and the French -isme.[1] It is used to create abstract nouns of action, state, condition, or doctrine, and is often used to describe philosophies, theories, religions, social movements, artistic movements, lifestyles,[2] behaviors, scientific phenomena,[3] or medical conditions.[4][5]

The concept of an -ism may resemble that of a grand narrative.[6]

Skeptics of any given -isms can quote the dictum attributed to Eisenhower: "All -isms are wasms".[7]

  1. ^ "-ism". Oxford English Dictionary online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2014. (subscription required)
  2. ^ Such as hedonism or consumerism
  3. ^ Such as magnetism
  4. ^ Such as an embolism, dwarfism, or priapism
  5. ^ "ism suffix". Oxford English Dictionary online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2023. (subscription required)
  6. ^ Prettejohn, Elizabeth (15 September 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. Vol. 2. London: I.B.Tauris (published 2012). p. 61. ISBN 9781848859036. [...] another grand narrative, no less compelling than the familiar succession of 'isms' [...]
  7. ^ Braund, Susanna Morton (19 July 2005) [2002]. Latin Literature. Classical Foundations. Routledge. p. 65. ISBN 9781134646777. Retrieved 6 August 2023. As President Eisenhower allegedly said, 'All -isms are wasms'. [...] I hope to avoid the tyranny of the -isms [...].