spiritualism

American  

[spir-i-choo-uh-liz-uhm] / ˈspɪr ɪ tʃu əˌlɪz əm /

noun

1. the belief or doctrine that the spirits of the dead, surviving after the mortal life, can and do communicate with the living, especially through a person (a medium) particularly susceptible to their influence.

2. the practices or phenomena associated with this belief.

3. the belief that all reality is spiritual.

4. Metaphysics. any of various doctrines maintaining that the ultimate reality is spirit or mind.

5. spiritual quality or tendency.

6. insistence on the spiritual side of things, as in philosophy or religion.

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spiritualism British  

/ ˈspɪrɪtjʊəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. the belief that the disembodied spirits of the dead, surviving in another world, can communicate with the living in this world, esp through mediums

2. the doctrines and practices associated with this belief

3. philosophy the belief that because reality is to some extent immaterial it is therefore spiritual

4. any doctrine (in philosophy, religion, etc) that prefers the spiritual to the material

5. the condition or quality of being spiritual

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• spiritualistically
  adverb
• spiritualistic
  adjective
• antispiritualism
  noun
• antispiritualistic
  adjective
• spiritualist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of spiritualism

First recorded in 1825–35; spiritual + -ism

Example Sentences

“Great Gold Bird” can be heavy, tugging at our hearts even as it becomes more mystical — its themes ricocheting among grief, science fiction and spiritualism.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 6, 2024

Their mission: Finding myriad ways to convey how faith and spiritualism, in their many forms, manifested themselves around the world in 2023.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 18, 2023

For me, as someone who grew up Ethiopian and Evangelical, all of this spiritualism was new ground I was breaking into, and I was scared of what it held for me.

From Salon • Oct. 27, 2023

Raised Baptist, Pettijohn eventually balanced mindfulness work with church, and attends Unity Church, which is a Christian denomination that emphasizes spiritualism and universalism.

From Washington Post • Jul. 4, 2022

Their testimony is very important, because they were the only members of the family who lived completely removed from the three-legged table, protected from magic and spiritualism by their rigid English boarding school.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende