egalitarianism

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noun egal·i·tar·i·an·ism \ i-ˌga-lə-ˈter-ē-ə-ˌni-zəm \

Definition of egalitarianism

1 :a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs

2 :a social philosophy advocating the removal of inequalities among people

Recent Examples of egalitarianism from the Web

People with low SDO scores, by contrast, tend to hold social attitudes associated with egalitarianism.

— eoin o'carroll, The Christian Science Monitor, "Why are there still Nazis? These eight questions can help explain.," 14 Aug. 2017
Jackson’s channeling of backcountry egalitarianism led to universal white male suffrage — and that in turn was the basis and animating spirit for truly universal suffrage.

— nicholas m. gallagher, National Review, "America Needs to Reconcile Its Id and Superego," 11 July 2017
Only once in the history of golf has there been a longer stretch of egalitarianism.

— nancy armour, USA TODAY, "Trend of first-time major winners isn't going away," 18 June 2017
In philosophy, science, mathematics, music, arts, literature, theology and governance, the French people act with a combination of principle, knowledge and egalitarianism.

— letter writers, Twin Cities, "Letters: A dream and hard work," 8 June 2017
Nor did Lee’s defeat lead to an embrace of racial egalitarianism.

— adam serwer, The Atlantic, "The Myth of the Kindly General Lee," 4 June 2017
Denmark’s Social Democrats have widened a lead in opinion polls, positioning itself as willing to address blue-collar concerns, even if that means treading over its traditional principles of egalitarianism, tolerance and openness.

— Bloomberg.com, "Your Evening Briefing," 9 May 2017
But in the name of humane egalitarianism, the Mars critics would swap out the alleged narcissism of wealthy visionaries for their own even more narrow and covetous egomania.

— james poulos, Orange County Register, "Begin work now on sending people — not just robots — to Mars," 29 Apr. 2017
The only hope for a better life lies in an idyllic island in the Atlantic Ocean, known as the Offshore, where abundance and egalitarianism reign.

— jiayang fan, The New Yorker, "A Brazilian Thriller That Exposes the Sinister Side of Meritocracy," 21 Apr. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'egalitarianism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The Roots of egalitarianism

Egalitarianism comes to the English language from the French. We fashioned egalitarian from their égalitaire “egalitarian” (which comes from the Latin aequalitas “equality”), and then added our -ism to it. The word first appeared in English in the late 19th century; our current earliest citation is from 1874, in The Times of India: “Before the Revolution the officers of one regiment welcomed brother corps with champagne suppers, but egalitarianism has brought us down to punch at five francs the bowl. . . ." The word has seen a subtle shift in meaning. Its earliest use was typically in reference to a belief in human equality; it has since taken on the sense “a social philosophy that advocates the removal of inequality among people.”