-ism, -ismus

1. The belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable.

A submissive attitude to events, resulting from such a a belief.

2. A philosophical doctrine holding that all events are predetermined in advance for all time and human beings are powerless to change them.
3. An attitude of resignation and passivity that results from the belief that people are powerless against fate.

1. The state of being feminine.
2. A feminine or woman's word or expression.

1. The qualities of females.
2. In pathology, the development of female secondary sexual characteristics in a male.
3. Advocacy of the rights of women (based on the theory of equality of the sexes).

1. A phenomenon exhibited by materials like iron (nickel or cobalt) that become magnetized in a magnetic field and retain their magnetism when the field is removed.
2. The property of certain metals and alloys; especially, those of the iron group, rare-earth, and acitinide series, that are capable of spontaneous magnetic polarization, resulting in drastic magnetic effects.

These materials are strongly attracted to magnets and are used in permanent magnets and various ceramic compounds.

The retention into adult life of a bodily characterostic which, at some earlier stage of evolutionary history, was actually only infantile and was rapidly lost as the organism attained maturity: The skull of a human indicates fetalization, or fetalism, when comparing it to the gorilla's because it is similar to the skull of an infant gorilla instead of the large and elaborate adult skull.

A reliance, in a search for religious truth, on faith alone.

A philosophical doctrine that subscribes to the belief that specific events are explained by their causes: There was an aura of finalism in the way the professor spoke when she talked about the cause and effect of the accident that took place with her fellow instructor this morining.

A term used to refer to the economic theory that a government should rely on fiscal policy as the main instrument of macroeconomic policy.

1. The imitation of what is unfamiliar or alien: The foreignism of having Judy’s fake vase on the table was quite strange after viewing the original one in the museum.
2. An idiom, phrase, custom, mannerism, or term imported from overseas: After returning from their trip to England, Jane adopted the foreignism of having tea with crumpets in the afternoon.

Very poor blood circulation caused by long exposure to cold.

The act or the art of tightrope-walking.

1. Belief that the intended function of something should determine its design, construction, and choice of materials, or a 20th-century design movement based on this.
2. Any philosophy or system that gives practical and utilitarian concerns priority over aesthetic concerns.
3. Any doctrine that stresses utility or purpose.
4. The analysis and explanation of social institutions according to the function they perform in society; for example, the family is seen as an institution for social stability and cohesion.

Functionalism is one of the early schools of psychological thought which took as the proper subject matter for psychological study those mental processes or chains of actions that demonstrate a usefulness in the adjustment of the organism to its environment.

The principles of functionalism have been absorbed into the main themes of contemporary psychology.

1. A religious or political movement based on a literal interpretation of and strict adherence to doctrine; especially, as a return to former principles.
2. The belief that religious or political doctrine should be implemented literally, not interpreted or adapted.
3. The interpretation of every word in the sacred texts as literal truth.

A movement in American Protestantism that arose in the early part of the 20th century in reaction to modernism and that stresses the infallibility of the Bible not only in matters of faith and morals but also as a literal historical record, holding as essential to Christian faith belief in such doctrines as the creation of the world, the virgin birth, physical resurrection, atonement by the sacrificial death of Christ, and His Second Coming.