- Ism is a noun which means a particular doctrine, system or theory.
- But it is also used as a suffix to specify what particular doctrine, system or theory, e.g., pacifism, Catholicism, Darwinism, anthropomorphism, and hedonism (my favorite).
- It is a suffix that also defines an action, such as terroism; defines a characteristic, such as heroism; a state or condition that results from an excess of something, such as strychninism; or a distinctive or characteristic trait, such as Latinism.
- It is also an acronym for about at least 50 different organizations as well as Internet and business usage.
- It is a punk rock/alternative rock band in New York.
- In Arabic it means a personal name.
So alot of usage for three little letters. Over the coming weeks I will be exploring the one defintion of it that seems prevalent in Human Resources “An attitude of prejuidice against a given group.” I will look at racism, ageism, sexism, etc. from a human resources perspective and maybe a little social/scientific perspective as well. So stay tuned.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I can't wait. I think we take lots of -isms for granted. Many of us think that -isms are gone from our society.
This is going to get interesting!