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activism

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 00:30. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈæk.tɪ.vɪ.zəm/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English active + -ism,[2][3][4][5] partly modelled on German Aktivismus.[3][5] According to the OED, the philosophical sense follows the German word as Eucken used it in 1907, and the political sense probably follows either the German word, in political use by 1917, or French activisme, recorded in geology from 1906, in philosophy from 1911 and in politics from 1916.[3] Merriam-Webster treats it as a borrowing of the German word, formed from aktiv and -ismus.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

1856, in the Family Magazine, as a rare synonym of actinism.[3]

Semantic evolution

Philosophical uses followed: Merriam-Webster dates to 1877 the doctrine that the mind is active in perception, or that activity is fundamental,[6] and the OED records from 1907 the term for Eucken's view that truth is reached through action, or active striving after the spiritual life.[3] Etymonline also dates the philosophical use to 1907.[2] During the First World War, from 1915, the word was used in continental Europe for the policy of supporting Germany in the war.[3] The modern sense, vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change, appears in 1920 in the Atlantic Monthly;[3][2] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1905–10.[5] The SOED marks the philosophical sense, the theory that everything is active, as now rare.[4]

Timeline

  • 1856 – a rare synonym of actinism.[3]
  • 1877 – a philosophical doctrine that the mind is active, or that activity is fundamental.[6]
  • 1907 – in Eucken's philosophy, the belief that truth is reached through action.[3][2]
  • 1915 – support for Germany in the First World War, in continental Europe.[3]
  • 1920 – vigorous political or social campaigning.[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The policy or practice of taking vigorous, often direct or militant, action to bring about political or social change: Her activism began with a campaign against a new landfill.[7][6][3]
  2. (philosophy) A doctrine that the mind is active in perception, or that activity is fundamental or creative; in Eucken's philosophy, the theory that truth is reached through action.[6][3][4]

Word family

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins