Standard Lemma guide

monism

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmɒnɪzəm/
  • General-American: /ˈmɑnɪzəm/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: M AA1 N IH0 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality, despite the appearance of diversity in the world.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, lifestyle, philosophy, religion, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: one-thingism

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The doctrine that there is a single source of political authority, especially that the church is subordinate to the state or vice versa.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, historical, uncountable

Topics: government, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The legal doctrine that international law forms part of domestic law automatically after ratification or accession.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Qualifier: international law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the doctrine that reality consists of a single basic substance or element

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: pluralism

Broader terms: doctrine, philosophy, philosophical system, school of thought, ism

History

Etymology

The word was coined by German philosopher Baron Christian von Wolff and first used in English in 1862, from New Latin monismus, from Ancient Greek μόνος (mónos, “alone”). By surface analysis, mon- + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: monizm — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Bashkir: монизм (monizm) — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Chinese Mandarin: 一元論 /一元论 (yīyuánlùn) — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Czech: monismus — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Finnish: monismi — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • French: monisme — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • German: Monismus — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Italian: monismo — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Japanese: 一元論 (ichigenron) — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Kazakh: монизм (monizm) — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Kyrgyz: монизм (monizm) — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Latin: monismus — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Occitan: monisme — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Persian: یگانهانگاری — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Polish: monizm — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Portuguese: monismo — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Romanian: monism — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Russian: мони́зм (monízm) — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Serbo-Croatian: monizam — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Spanish: monismo — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Swedish: monism — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Thai: เอกนิยม — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Ukrainian: моні́зм (monízm) — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Vietnamese: nhất nguyên luận — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Vietnamese: thuyết nhất nguyên — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality
  • Yiddish: מאָניזם (monizm) — doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality