totem

From Ojibwe (o)doodem(an).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtoʊtəm/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtəʊtəm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊtəm
• Hyphenation: to‧tem

totem (plural totems)

1. Any natural object or living creature that serves as an emblem of a tribe, clan or family; the representation of such an object or creature.
2. The clan whose kinship is defined in reference to such an object or creature.
   • 1921, Wilhelm Max Wundt, Edward Leroy Schaub, Elements of folk psychology: outlines of a psychological history:

     The totem members were forbidden to eat the flesh of the totem animal, or were allowed to do so only under specific conditions.

   • 2014, Michael Pomedli, Living with Animals: Ojibwe Spirit Powers, page 165:

     These meanings flow from bear-like characteristics imprinted on totem members. Members of the bear clan may have dispositional, cognitive, and physical capabilities similar to those of bear.

3. (figuratively) A symbol or personification.
   • 2023 January 19, Damien Cave, quoting Richard Shaw, “How Covid’s Bitter Divisions Tarnished a Liberal Icon”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     “She became a totem,” he added. “She became the personification of a particular response to the pandemic, which people in the far-flung margins of the internet and the not so far-flung margins used against her.”

4. An arbitrarily chosen object serving as a reminder to check whether one is awake or not, to aid in having lucid dreams.
   • 2010, ren, “Inception and Lucid Dreaming”, in alt.religion.wicca (Usenet):

     The best way to determine if you are dreaming or not is to have a totem in your lucid dreams that does not exist in reality. Inducing yourself is as easy as waking up during the night and practicing as you fall back asleep. Say, "I will be aware I am dreaming while I am dreaming by seeing my totem."

5. A tall object resembling a totem pole.
   • 2014 February 4, Tom Hayllar, A Long Way Walkin’ in Australia: From the Tasman to the Timor Sea‎^[2], Bloomington, Indiana: Balboa Press, →ISBN, page 207:

     Out the front of the Drive-in rose the town’s main tourist attraction, a totem of signs to bizarre places with impossible distances such as Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and so on.

• motet, motte

• Audio:

  (file)

totem m (plural totems, diminutive totempje n)

1. totem, object that signifies a kinship group
2. totem, physical representation of a kinship symbol

• totempaal

• IPA^(key): /tɔ.tɛm/

totem m (plural totems)

1. totem

• totémique
• totémiser
• totémisation

• “totem”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• Audio:

  (file)

totem

1. strong dative masculine/neuter singular of tot

Unadapted borrowing from English totem, from Ojibwe (o)doodem(an).

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɔ.tem/^[1]
• Rhymes: -ɔtem
• Hyphenation: tò‧tem

totem m (invariable)

1. totem

• metto

Borrowed from English totem, from Ojibwe (o)doodem(an).

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɔ.tɛm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔtɛm
• Syllabification: to‧tem

totem m inan

1. totem (natural object or living creature that serves as an emblem of a tribe)
2. totem (representation of such a creature)

• totem in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• totem in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• tóteme

Borrowed from English totem, from Ojibwe (o)doodem(an).

totem m (plural totens)

1. totem (object or creature that serves as an emblem of a tribe, clan or family)
2. totem pole (Native American sculpture made by carving trees)
3. (marketing) e-kiosk (digital panel used for advertising or user interaction)
   • 2023 November 5, Tina Bini, “O fenômeno chamado We Coffee e suas novas e tecnológicas lojas em São Paulo”, in CNN Brasil‎^[3]:

     Após fazer o pedido no totem, o nome do cliente aparece em duas telas no fundo da loja, indicando em qual dos armários a bandeja estará disponível.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• “totem”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “totem”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Borrowed from French totem.

totem n (plural totemuri)

1. totem

Borrowed from Ojibwe (o)doodem(an).

• IPA^(key): /tǒteːm/
• Hyphenation: to‧tem

tòtēm m anim (Cyrillic spelling то̀те̄м)

1. totem

• IPA^(key): /ˈtotem/ [ˈt̪o.t̪ẽm]
• Rhymes: -otem
• Syllabification: to‧tem

totem m (plural totems)

1. alternative spelling of tótem

totem n or c

1. a totem ((natural) object or creature or the like that serves as an emblem)

• totempåle

• totem in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• totem in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• totem in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Borrowed from French totem, from Ojibwe (o)doodem(an).

totem (definite accusative totemi, plural totemler)

1. (religion) totem

• ongun

• totemci
• totemcilik