Where does “-ism” come from?

-ism (English) comes from Latin -ismus, from Ancient Greek -ισμός, from Ancient Greek -μός, from Proto-Indo-European -mós — Creates action/result nouns from verb stems.

-ism (English): Used to form nouns of action or process or result...

Definitions

  1. Used to form nouns of action or process or result...

Ancestry of “-ism”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latin-ismus-ism
2Ancient Greek-ισμόςForms abstract nouns
3Ancient Greek-μόςForms abstract nouns
4Proto-Indo-European-mósCreates action/result nouns from verb stems

Words derived from “-ism”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -mós →