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", and then extended to systems of belief.
The word ism was first used in 1680 and can be found in the works of such well-known writers as Thomas Carlyle, Julian Huxley and George Bernard Shaw.
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.
The -ism suffix can be used to express the following concepts:
- 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)
What follows is a list of words that have the -ism suffix. This list should not include words like prismSee: Prism (geometry) Prism (optics) Prism (band) PRISM is an abbreviation for Probabilistic Symbolic Model Checker. and schismThe word schism from the Greek σχισμα, schisma (from σχιζο, schizo "to split"), means a division or a split, usually in an organization. A schismatic is a person who creates or incites schism in an which end in -ism but have no etymological connection with -ism words.
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ableism, abolitionismThis article is about the abolition of slavery. For a page on the general concept of abolition, see abolition. For information regarding the abolition of suffering, see abolitionist society. Great Britain and the United States. Abolitionism a political mo, absenteeismAbsenteeism is a habitual pattern of absence from a duty or obligation. In schools, frequent unexcused absences are considered to be truancy, and may have substantial legal penalties for both the student and the parents. Frequent absence from school is as, absolutismThe term absolutism can mean: A belief in absolute truth moral absolutism, the belief that there is some absolute standard of right and wrong political absolutism, a political system where one person holds absolute power, also called apolytarchy from Gr., abstract expressionismAbstract expressionism was an American post- World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and also the one that put New York City at the center of the art world, a role formerly filled by Paris., absurdism, activism, adoptionism, adultism , Afrocentrism, ageism, agnosticism, agorism, agrarianism, alarmism, Albigensianism, albinism, alcoholism, all-Americanism , Althusserianism , altruism, Americanism, anarchism, anarcho-capitalism, anarcho-syndicalism, aneurysm or aneurism, Anglicanism, Anglicism, animalism, animal magnetism, animism, anthropocentrism, anthropomorphism, anti-Americanism, anti-abolitionism , anticlericalism, antidisestablishmentarianism, anti-imperialism, anti-intellectualism, antinomianism, anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, Apollinarism, archaism, Arianism, Aristotelianism, atavism, atheism, Atlanticism, atomism, Atticism, attitudinism , Augustinism , Australianism, authoritarianism, autism, Averroism
