Standard Lemma guide

totemism

noun · 2 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

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  • /ˈtoʊtəmɪzəm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The belief that a person or group has a special mystical relationship to a totem.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: lifestyle, religion

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

belief in the kinship of a group of people with a common totem

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: belief

History

Etymology

From totem + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

37 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: طوطمية — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Armenian: տոտեմիզմ (totemizm) — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Asturian: totemismu — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Azerbaijani: totemizm — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Belarusian: татэмізм (tatemizm) — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Bengali: টোটেমবাদ (ṭōṭembad) — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Catalan: totemisme — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Chinese Mandarin: 圖騰崇拜 /图腾崇拜 (túténg chóngbài) — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Chinese Mandarin: 圖騰信仰 /图腾信仰 (túténg xìnyǎng) — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Chinese Mandarin: 圖騰論 /图腾论 — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Czech: totemismus — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Dutch: totemisme — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Esperanto: totemismo — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Estonian: totemism — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Finnish: totemismi — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • French: totémisme — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Galician: totemismo — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Georgian: ტოტემიზმი (ṭoṭemizmi) — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • German: Totemismus — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Hungarian: totemizmus — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Indonesian: totemisme — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Italian: totemismo — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Japanese: トーテミズム (tōtemizumu) — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Kazakh: тотемизм (totemizm) — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Korean: 토템 숭배 (totem sungbae) — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Kyrgyz: тотемизм (totemizm) — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Macedonian: тотемизам (totemizam) — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Malagasy: tôtemisma — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Persian: توتمپرستی — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Polish: totemizm — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Romanian: totemism — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Russian: тотеми́зм (totɛmízm) — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Serbo-Croatian: totemizam — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Slovak: totemizmus — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Swedish: totemism — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Ukrainian: тотемізм (totemizm) — belief in a special relationship to a totem
  • Uzbek: totemizm — belief in a special relationship to a totem