communalism · noun — the communal ownership of property. It carries an Arena rating of 1176, earned across 112 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, communalism ranks #6,224 of 17,187 for Most Malleable Words, #8,689 of 17,165 for Most Satisfying to Say, #10,029 of 17,188 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #10,090 of 17,130 for Most Ponderous Words.
Why “communalism” is a great word
COMMUNALISM — [Noun] A social or political principle emphasizing the primacy of a community, often a religious or ethnic group, over the individual, which can manifest as a system of communal ownership or as sectarian conflict. From the English word 'communal' (pertaining to a community) + the suffix '-ism' (denoting a system, principle, or ideology). First recorded in English 1870–75. Unlike "individualism" (which champions personal autonomy) or "secularism" (which separates religious identity from civic life), communalism binds the self to the collective fate. It is the shared meal from a single pot, the unified rhythm of a harvest festival, and the sudden silence dividing a street by faith—the perennial human temptation to trade the burden of a self for the armor of a 'we'.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From communal + -ism.
noun
- The communal ownership of property.
- Any social system based around a community.
- Stoking conflict or discrimination based on religious identity.e.g.“Near-synonym: sectarianism”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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