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

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
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
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
In 2009, a study by historians at Stanford and the University of Texas found that the degree of egalitarianism in Rome during the second century A.D.—about 100 years after the death of Saturninus—compared favorably with the US today.

— chris pomorski, Smithsonian, "Found in the Remains of a Former Gilded Age Mansion, an Ancient Roman Artifact Reveals Its Secrets", 7 Feb. 2017
On the whole, however, Britain and the United States have, compared with many Western countries, generally set greater store on individual economic freedom than on the ideal of egalitarianism.

— ian buruma, New York Times, "The End of the Anglo-American Order", 29 Nov. 2016
In this case, the icon is Apple, which is dragged to a Fortune inquisition for proclaiming one thing (egalitarianism) and practicing another (exclusionary-to-the-point-of-paranoia business tactics).

— david becker, WIRED, "Who Are You Calling ‘Controlling?’", 8 Nov. 2007

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.”