Collectivisms

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A set of political or social theories advocating for collective ownership and collective decision-making processes in contrast to individualism
2. Movements or ideologies focused on the group rather than the individual, promoting the idea that society should function cooperatively
3. The belief in organizing society around communal interests and working towards shared goals, often emphasizing cooperation over competition

Etymology: Collectivisms is simply the plural of collectivism, and the word it comes from is a plain English construction: "collective" plus the suffix "-ism". The adjective "collective" reached English through Middle French "collectif" from Latin "collectivus", itself built on "colligere", "to gather together", a verb made of "con-" ("together") and "legere" ("to gather"). The Latin root is the same one behind "collect", "select" and "elegant". The suffix "-ism" arrived in English from Greek "-ismos", a noun-forming ending that turns an action or doctrine into a named system. Attaching it to "collective" produced a label for any political system that places the group above the individual. The word is an English coinage built from existing parts rather than a classical term inherited unchanged, so the "-ism" ending is what gives it its political sense.