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• universalism
  universalism

  noun

  universal character; universality.
• Universalism
  Universalism

  noun

  a system of religious beliefs maintaining that all men are predestined for salvation

universalism

American  

[yoo-nuh-vur-suh-liz-uhm] / ˌju nəˈvɜr səˌlɪz əm /

noun

1. universal character; universality.

2. a universal range of knowledge, interests, or activities.

3. (initial capital letter) the doctrine that emphasizes the universal fatherhood of God and the final salvation of all souls.

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universalism ¹ British  

/ ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. a universal feature or characteristic

2. another word for universality

3. social welfare the principle that welfare services should be available to all by right, according to need, and not restricted by individual ability to pay, but funded by general contributions through taxes, rates, or national insurance payments

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Universalism ² British  

/ ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. a system of religious beliefs maintaining that all men are predestined for salvation

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Other Word Forms

• Universalist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of universalism

First recorded in 1795–1805; universal + -ism

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

universalism Universalism

It is a repudiation of cosmopolitan universalism in favor of historical continuity and particular identity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026

“They will be Palestinian New Yorkers in Bay Ridge who will no longer have to contend with a politics that speaks of universalism and then makes them the exception.”

From Slate ● Jan. 3, 2026

Rather, as with her other novels, there’s a softhearted universalism to Lalami’s treatment of surveillance capitalism.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2025

While focusing on all students, the foundation is also tailoring some of its offerings to particular student groups — a principle called targeted universalism.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 22, 2024

But if the universalism they achieved held 105faulty elements, is that any reason why the purer truth should shrink from universalization?

From Chosen Peoples Being the First "Arthur Davis Memorial Lecture" delivered before the Jewish Historical Society at University College on Easter-Passover Sunday, 1918/5678 by Israel Zangwill

As the novel opens, she has returned to the Unitarian Universalism bequeathed by her parents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2022

Universalism Very eagle-eyed viewers have spotted small references to Schur’s sitcoms taking place in the same universe.

From The Guardian ● May 26, 2018

The century’s most famous Catholic convert, a journalist named Orestes Brownson, tried Congregationalism, Presbyterianism, Universalism, Unitarianism, and Transcendentalism on his way to Catholicism.

From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2015

Shawn Dove: There has been a growing body of research, most notably that of John Powell’s Targeted Universalism, that reveals that improved outcomes for a targeted population requires targeted investments and interventions.

From Forbes ● Apr. 14, 2015

Universalism also took its rise at this time and spread with remarkable rapidity under the lead of Hosea Ballou.

From Union and Democracy by Allen Johnson