-ism, -ismus

(Greek, ismos; Latin, ismus: a suffix: belief in, practice of, condition of, process, characteristic behavior or manner, abnormal state, distinctive feature or trait)

physical narcissism
Narcissism manifested as a preoccupation with one's appearance and exhibitionism.
physiocratism
Government that functions according to natural laws or principles.
physiomedicalism
A system of medicine in which only harmless natural remedies are used.
physitheism (s) (noun), physitheisms (pl)
The attribution of a physical form (animal, vegetable, or mineral) to a deity or deities.

Examples of physitheism in action include an ancient Greek or Roman god that assumed the form of an animal or when God spoke to Moses from the burning bush.


Moses is an example of physitheism in which the deity reveals Himself in a burning bush.

First, Moses while taking care of a flock of sheep near Mt. Horeb, "the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed." (Exodus 3:2)

Later, "And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly." (Exodus 19:18)

It was at Mt. Sinai that God presented the Ten Commandments to Moses.

Based on these quotations from the Old Testament Bible, the image above is only a representation of the two separate occurrences; however, it still illustrates physitheism.

—Word Info image © Copyright, 2006.
picrotoxinism
pietism
piezomagnetism
Maganetism resulting from mechanical stress or the reverse effect.
piezotropism
A growth movement in response to a compression stimulus.
pilgrimism (s) (noun) (no pl)
The philosophy regarding a pilgrimage: Ruth thought that the idea of pilgrimism was a good thing because it could give people a purpose in undertaking a journey to a specific place of their faith which could give them hope.
pilosism
Excessive hairiness.
pinealism
Any condition due to presumed abnormalities of pineal gland secretion.
pituitarism
Pituitary dysfunction.
plagiarism (PLAY juh riz" uhm) (s) (noun), plagiarisms (pl)
1. The unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work: James was accused of committing plagiarism by his teacher, Mrs. Smith, because she had read the contents previously in a newspaper, which he claimed were all his own creation.
2. Etymology: from Latin, plaga, "a hunting net or snare used for capturing animals", then plagiarius was used to refer to "a literary thief".
An act of claiming the artistic or literary work of another person.
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Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if you steal from many authors, it's considered to be research.

—Compiled from a quote by
Wilson Mizner, an American sportsman and wit.

Pointing to a page about plagiarisms Plagiarisms: Past and Present.


plagiotropism
The tendency of a plant's roots, stems, or branches to grow at an angle away from the vertical in response to a stimulus.
plasticism