Zombiism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition of being a mindless, lifeless-seeming creature ; the folk belief or ritual practice centered on reanimated corpses, especially in Haitian voodoo
2. A dazed, automaton-like state resembling a reanimated corpse ; a folk tradition holding that the dead can be raised and controlled, especially in Haitian voodoo
3. Mindless, robotic behavior resembling a reanimated corpse ; the belief system and rites concerning the undead, particularly in Haitian folk religion

Etymology: Zombie comes from West African languages such as Kikongo "nzambi" (a god or spirit), passed into Caribbean creole usage and then into English as a name for a reanimated corpse. "Zombiism" is the simple result of attaching the suffix "-ism" to that noun. The suffix, from Greek "-ismos" through Latin and French, forms nouns denoting a condition, state, or system of belief, so the word names the condition of behaving like a zombie. The meaning of the word follows the noun's own shift. Zombie began as a reanimated corpse in folklore and later came to mean a person who seems mindless, sluggish, or emotionally absent. Zombiism, built on that sense, describes a dazed, automaton-like state rather than the undead body itself.

Synonyms: zombieism