totemism

noun

to·​tem·​ism ˈtō-tə-ˌmi-zəm 

1

: belief in kinship with or a mystical relationship between a group or an individual and a totem

2

: a system of social organization based on totemic affiliations

Examples of totemism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Even as anthropologists were decisively abandoning totemism, however, the idea was gaining cultural credibility elsewhere. — Glenn Adamson, Artforum, 2 May 2026

The musical totemism by which postwar youth consolidated their identities through affiliation with some genre or other was as real as any other social fact. — Justin E. H. Smith, Harper's Magazine, 6 Sep. 2023

Social media has precipitated new types of totemism — the work of what being a fan means has been questioned, particularly after a death. — Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2020

There is no reason to believe that months later politicians have become more interested in scientific evidence, as opposed to totemism. — Matthew Walther, TheWeek, 14 Nov. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for totemism

• autism
• fascism
• racism
• sikhism
• sophism
• statism
• sufism
• thomism
• tourism
• tropism
• abolitionism
• aldosteronism