Neutralism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The policy or practice of taking no side in disputes between other nations or groups ; the philosophical view that moral facts or objective values do not exist
2. A position of staying impartial and uninvolved in conflicts between other powers ; a metaethical stance denying the reality of moral truths independent of human attitudes
3. The stance of abstaining from alignment with opposing parties or nations ; the theory that there are no objective moral properties or that morality is not based in fact

Etymology: "Neutralism" is a plain formation: the adjective "neutral" with the suffix "-ism", which turns an adjective into a noun for a doctrine, policy or attitude. The suffix itself came into English through Latin and French from Greek "-ismos", a noun ending that was attached to verb stems and gave the sense of an action, practice or condition, and the Greek form was in turn built on the "-izein" verb ending, which is why the suffix shows up on so many words for systems of belief. The word therefore names the position of staying out of conflicts, especially between larger powers. Its base, "neutral", comes from Latin "neuter", meaning "neither", and the logic is simple: a neutral party is one that is neither on one side nor the other. Adding "-ism" lifted that stance from a description of a single state or person into a named principle that could be argued for, promoted and opposed.

Synonyms: neutrality, non-alignment, impartiality

Antonyms: partisanship, bias, alignment