elitism

See also: élitism

English

Alternative forms

• élitism

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs

Proto-Italic *eks

Latin ex

Latin ex-

Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-

Proto-Indo-European *-eti

Proto-Indo-European *léǵeti

Proto-Italic *legō

Latin legō

Latin ēligō

Latin ēlēctus

Vulgar Latin *exlectus?

Old French eslitbor.

Middle English elit

English elite

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *-mós

Ancient Greek -μός (-mós)

Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der.

English -ism

English elitism

From elite + -ism. First attested in the 1930s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈliːtɪzəm/, /eɪˈliːtɪzəm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

elitism (countable and uncountable, plural elitisms)

1. The belief that a society or system should be run by an elite.
2. The superior attitude or behaviour associated with an elite.
   • 2011 December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Dati launched a blistering attack on the prime minister, François Fillon, under whom she served as justice minister, accusing him of sexism, elitism, arrogance and hindering the political advancement of ethnic minorities.

Derived terms

• antielitism
• nonelitism

Related terms

• elitist

Translations

belief society should be run by elite

• Arabic: نُخْبَوِيَّة f (nuḵbawiyya)
• Bengali: এলিটিজম (eliṭijom)
• Catalan: elitisme m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 精英主義 / 精英主义 (jīngyīngzhǔyì)

• Czech: elitářství n
• Dutch: elitisme (nl) n, elitarisme (nl) n
• Finnish: elitismi (fi)
• French: élitisme (fr) m
• German: Elitarismus m
• Greek: ελιτισμός (el) m (elitismós)
• Icelandic: úrvalsstefna f
• Italian: elitismo m
• Japanese: エリート主義 (エリートしゅぎ, erītoshugi)
• Khmer: វរជននិយម (vôrôchnônĭymô)
• Korean: 엘리트주의 (elliteujuui)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: bijareyîtî (ku)

• Malayalam: എലിറ്റിസം (eliṟṟisaṁ)
• Persian: نخبه‌گرایی (noxbe-garâyi)
• Polish: elityzm m
• Portuguese: elitismo (pt) m
• Russian: элитари́зм (ru) m (elitarízm), элити́зм (ru) m (elitízm), элита́рность (ru) f (elitárnostʹ)
• Spanish: elitismo (es) m
• Swedish: elitism (sv) c
• Tamil: எளிடிசம் (eḷiṭicam)
• Tatar: элитизм (elitizm)
• Turkish: elitizm (tr)
• Turkmen: elitizm

Anagrams

• limiest, limites

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French élitisme. By surface analysis, elită +‎ -ism.

Noun

elitism n (uncountable)

1. elitism

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	elitism	elitismul
genitive-dative	elitism	elitismului
vocative	elitismule

Swedish

Noun

elitism c

1. elitism

Declension

Declension of elitism

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	elitism	elitisms
	definite	elitismen	elitismens
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Related terms

• elit
• elitistisk

References

• “elitism”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “elitism”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)