totemism

American  

[toh-tuh-miz-uhm] / ˈtoʊ təˌmɪz əm /

noun

1. the practice of having totems.

2. the system of tribal division according to totems.

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totemism British  

/ ˈtəʊtəˌmɪzəm /

noun

1. the belief in kinship of groups or individuals having a common totem

2. the rituals, taboos, and other practices associated with such a belief

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totemism Cultural  

1. The belief that people are descended from animals, plants, and other natural objects. Symbols (see also symbol) of these natural ancestors, known as totems, are often associated with clans (groups of families tracing common descent). By representing desirable individual qualities (such as the swiftness of a deer) and helping to explain the mythical origin of the clan, totems reinforce clan identity and solidarity.

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Other Word Forms

• totemist
  noun
• totemistic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of totemism

An Americanism dating back to 1785–95; totem + -ism

Example Sentences

Animals are “good to think with,” the French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss famously wrote in his book on totemism.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 4, 2024

“There is nothing archaic or remote about it,” Lévi-Strauss concluded about totemism.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 4, 2024

The prevalence of such spirit-beings was one reason Emile Durkheim thought — wrongly, in my view — that what he called totemism was the earliest form of religion.

From New York Times • Aug. 17, 2021

The shaman educated Thwaites on the histories of animism and totemism.

From The New Yorker • May 23, 2016

If we ask, What was the origin of the peculiar Samoan worship of animals and other natural objects? the most probable answer seems to be that it has been developed out of totemism.

From The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead Vol. II by Frazer, James George, Sir