Where does “ism” come from?
The suffix ism comes from Ancient Greek -ισμός, itself from Ancient Greek -μός, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -mós.
ism (English): An ideology, system of thought, or practice that...
Definitions
- An ideology, system of thought, or practice that...
Ancestry of “ism”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -ism | Used to form nouns of action or process or result... |
| 2 | Latin | -ismus | -ism |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | -ισμός | Forms abstract nouns |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | -μός | Forms abstract nouns |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -mós | Creates action/result nouns from verb stems |