Word Knowledge
Yesterday I presented a question on the meaning of a suffix.
What does the suffix -ism mean?
As an ASVAB tutor, I remind my students of the importance of studying prefixes, root words and suffixes. Yesterday I presented this question asking the meaning of the suffix -ism. -Ism is one of the suffixes that I included for review in my book, The ASVAB Tutor’s Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension Study Guide. The suffix -ism means characteristic of.
There are many English words with the suffix -ism.
Examples include feudalism, racism, monotheism, polytheism, criticism, capitalism.
The meaning of these words are:
Feudalism was the dominant social system in medieval Europe.
Racism means prejudice or discrimination against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, usually a minority group.
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one God.
Polytheism is the belief that there is more than one god.
Criticism means the expression of disapproval or someone or something based on perceived faults or mistakes.
Capitalism means an economic or political system in which a country’s trade or industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
Did you know that the root word -ism means characteristic of?
