Socialisms

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A range of political and economic systems advocating communal ownership and administration of the means of production
2. Ideologies promoting collective management of resources to achieve equality and reduce class disparities
3. Movements that seek to reorganize society on principles emphasizing cooperation over individual ownership and profit-driven motives

Etymology: "Socialisms" is simply the plural of "socialism", the noun for a family of political and economic systems built on communal ownership of the means of production. Its plural is attested in English as early as the 1830s, and it reflects the fact that the term has come to cover several distinct movements rather than one doctrine. The base word, "socialism", was first recorded in English in 1832, and it could have been borrowed from French "socialisme" or built in English from "social" plus the suffix "-ism". The two routes arrived at the same place, since "socialisme" itself was formed from French "social" with the same suffix, so the word is in effect a shared product of both languages' vocabularies. The suffix "-ism" comes from Greek "-ismos", which turned a verb or base into a noun naming a practice, belief or system. Attaching it to "social" produced a label for any doctrine that puts society's collective interests first, and the plural form simply counts the different systems that the label now gathers under one heading.

Synonyms: collectivism, communalism

Antonyms: capitalism, individualism