Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “totemism” come from?

Totemism comes from totem plus the suffix -ism, from Ancient Greek -ισμός, from Ancient Greek -μός, from Proto-Indo-European -mós.

totemism (English): The belief that a person or group has a special...

Definitions

  1. The belief that a person or group has a special...

Ancestry of “totemism”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishismAn ideology, system of thought, or practice that...
2English-ismUsed to form nouns of action or process or result...
3Latin-ismus-ism
4Ancient Greek-ισμόςForms abstract nouns
5Ancient Greek-μόςForms abstract nouns
6Proto-Indo-European-mósCreates action/result nouns from verb stems
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -mós →