individualism
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French individualisme. By surface analysis, individual + -ism.
Pronunciation
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Noun
individualism (countable and uncountable, plural individualisms)
- The tendency for a person to act without reference to others, particularly in matters of style, fashion or mode of thought.
- The moral stance, political philosophy, or social outlook that promotes independence and self-reliance of individual people, while opposing the interference with each person's choices by society, the state, or any other group or institution.
- 1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., page 165:
- [A]nd that one great and all-important occasion and provocative of these beliefs was actually the rise of self-consciousness — that is, the coming of the mind to a more or less distinct awareness of itself and of its own operation, and the consequent development and growth of Individualism, and of the Self-centred attitude in human thought and action.
- (logic) The doctrine that only individual things are real.
- (philosophy) The doctrine that nothing exists but the individual self.
Synonyms
- (philosophy): solipsism
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “acting without reference to others”): collectivism, statism
Derived terms
Translations
tendency for a person to act without reference to others
|
moral stance
|
References
- OED2
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French individualisme. By surface analysis, individual + -ism.
Noun
individualism n (uncountable)
Declension
singular only | indefinite | definite |
---|---|---|
nominative-accusative | individualism | individualismul |
genitive-dative | individualism | individualismului |
vocative | individualismule |
Swedish
Noun
individualism c (uncountable)
Declension
nominative | genitive | ||
---|---|---|---|
singular | indefinite | individualism | individualisms |
definite | individualismen | individualismens | |
plural | indefinite | — | — |
definite | — | — |