atomism means the ancient Greek theory that all matter is composed of very small indestructible and indivisible particles.
Why “atomism” is a great word
The theory that all matter is composed of minute, indivisible, and indestructible particles. From atom (from Greek ἀτομον, atomos, "uncut, indivisible") + -ism (suffix forming nouns of action or doctrine). Formed within English; first attested in the 1670s. Unlike "holism" (which insists that wholes possess irreducible properties beyond their parts) or "continuism" (which imagines matter as infinitely divisible substance), atomism is the ultimate reduction, positing a final floor of being. It is the sandcastle reduced to its grains, the mosaic insisting on its tesserae, the clockwork universe of colliding spheres—the persistent, humbling truth that to divide is to truly know.
Etymology
From atom + -ism.
noun
- The ancient Greek theory that all matter is composed of very small indestructible and indivisible particles.
- The doctrine that society arises from individuals and that larger structures are unimportant.
- The doctrine that only simples (atoms without parts) exist ultimately.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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