-ism, -ismus

An attitude of indifference regarding the existence of a god: Apatheism is a disinclination to care all that much about one’s own religion, and an even stronger lack of interest in caring about other people’s religious beliefs.

A condition of being inactive, lethargic, or dull: Mary's parents thought that she suffered from apathism because she was quite sluggish in her reactions and so slow-moving.

1. A statement or saying that is efficiently presented and which is either witty or wise: When having your home decorated, remember this familiar aphorism, "Less is more."
2. Remarks or sentences, often definitions, that convey the truth about something in a concise and humorous way: Sharon's mother shaped her mind with a steady stream of aphorisms; such as, "Waste not, want not."

To be accepted as an aphorism, it is necessary for a saying to contain a truth that is revealed in a concise statement; such as, when Jack LaLanne, a famous American fitness, exercise, and nutritional expert once stated the aphorism: "I can’t die, because it would ruin my image."
3. Etymology: from Middle French aphorisme, aufforisme, from Middle Latin aphorismus, from Greek aphorismos, "definition, pithy sentence", from aphorizein, "to mark off, to divide", from ap-, "off" + horos, "boundary, to bound" + -ism, "act" or "practice of".

© ALL rights are reserved.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

1. An orientation response away from light; negative phototropism.
2. The absence of an orientation response to light.

1. A belief in certain prophecies; especially, regarding the imminent destruction of the world and the foundation of a new world order as a result of the triumph of good over evil.
2. The expectation of cataclysmic revelation, as in millenarianism which is a belief in the millennium of Christian prophecy [Revelation 20 in the New Testament of the Bible], the 1,000 years when Christ is predicted to reign on earth: An apocalypticism is any religious movement that foresees a coming age of peace and prosperity.

Apocalypticisms involve the practice of, or the addiction to, interpreting or applying prophetic revelations.

The growth or orientation of certain plants to flourish up away from the earth in which they grow: The condition of apogeotropism can be seen by the trunks of trees and their leaves that develop towards the sky.

An obsolete term for the action of purging phlegm from the head.

1. Belief in, or reliance upon, reasoning, arguments, or principles: Apriorism is the doctrine that knowledge rests upon principles that are self-evident to reason or are presupposed by experience in general.
2. A philosophical belief that knowledge is based on general principles which may be used to evaluate experience.

The developmental absence of one or both lungs: Arnold was diagnosed with apulmonism when the X-ray revealed that part of one of his lungs was missing.

A morbid condition resulting from the bite of an arachnid: Arachnidism may include an ascending motor paralysis and a destruction of peripheral nerve endings.

Arachnidism is also called "spider poisoning", "arachnoidism", and "araneism".

An outdated word or expression that is not generally used any more: An archaism is mainly used in literary writing, like in the plays by William Shakespeare.

Examples of archaisms are "thou", "methinks", "museums", "hark", "hither", "howbeit", and "doth".

The principles or practices of nobility, or people of rank in a community: Aristocratisms involve those who traditionally have more money and power than other people living in the same place.

1. The principles and practices of an extreme self-denial form of life.
2. The doctrine that the rigorous self-denial, abstinence form of life releases the soul from bondage to the body and permits a union with the divine.

Originally, an ascetic was someone who practiced the mode of life of a hermit or a monk, characterized by solitude, meditation, prayer, toil, fasting, and celibacy.

Implicit in this lifestyle of self-discipline and self-denial is the idea that the pleasures of this world should be renounced in favor of a "higher" purpose; such as, intellectual discipline or spiritual insight.

1. Resistant to the destructive effects of earthquakes.
2. No earthquake; without shaking (as exists with an earthquake).

Data on hydroseisms in wells are published annually by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.

Fault slips include aseismic creep and transient slip

Slip on faults occurs as a combination of relatively continuous aseismic creep and transient slip events. These transient events occur as earthquakes radiating seismic waves, and also as aseismic events with characteristic time scales of days to years.

A better understanding of the physical factors that control the relative amount and location of seismic and aseismic slip is a key goal in the study of fault mechanics and, in particular, can affect assessments of reginal seismic and tsunami hazards.