spiritualism

See also: Spiritualism

English

Etymology

spiritual + -ism

In Allan Kardec's 1857 book The Spirits Book (Le Livre des Esprits in original French), in which a distinction between spiritism and spiritualism is defined.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈspɪɹɪtjuəlɪzəm/, /ˈspɪɹɪt͡ʃuəlɪzəm/, /ˈspɪɹɪt͡ʃəlɪzəm/
    • (file)

Noun

spiritualism (countable and uncountable, plural spiritualisms)

  1. (philosophy) A doctrine, opposing materialism, that claims transcendency of the divine being, the altogether spiritual character of reality and the value of inwardness of consciousness.
    • 1880, R. H. Hutton, “Preface”, in Theological essays:
      What is called spiritualism should, I think, be called a mental species of materialism.
  2. A belief that the dead communicate with the living, especially through a medium. Used in a broader sense than spiritism/Kardecism.
    • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 229:
      I wish it were possible to impress this truth upon people who rush into spiritualism from curiosity, or who try "table rapping" or some similar phenomenon "for fun".
  3. The quality or state of being spiritual.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French spiritualisme. By surface analysis, spiritual + -ism.

Noun

spiritualism n (uncountable)

  1. spiritualism

Declension

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