ideology

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌaɪ.diːˈɒl.ə.d͡ʒiː/ (UK); /aɪ.diˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, /ɪ.diˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French idéologie (“the study or science of ideas”),^[2][3][4] coined by the French philosopher Destutt de Tracy from idéo-, of ideas, from Greek ἰδέα (idéa) (see idea), and -logie (see -logy).^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The science of ideas, a philosophy deriving knowledge from the senses as opposed to metaphysics: 1796.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

Napoleon used it scornfully for unpractical theorizing, and John Adams wrote in 1813 of this usage; ideal or visionary speculation is from 1813.^[2][6] Destutt de Tracy's school were the idéologues.^[3] A systematic set of ideas through which the world is interpreted, especially relating to politics or society, was in use in English by 1907, first in socialist and communist writing with reference to class.^[3][6] From 1918 it was used of socialism, communism and fascism themselves, later more broadly.^[3] The term became omnipresent after Marx's The German Ideology and Mannheim's Ideology and Utopia.^[3] Hoad dates the system-of-ideas sense to the 20th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 1796 – the science of ideas.^[2]
• 1813 – visionary speculation.^[2]
• 1907 – a system of ideas.^[3]
• 1918 – a political doctrine.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A body of ideas reflecting the beliefs and interests of a person, group, class or nation.
2. A set of doctrines forming the basis of a political or economic system.
3. (archaic) The study of the nature and origin of ideas.
4. Visionary or impractical speculation.

Word family

• ideologist
• ideologic
• ideological
• ideologue
• ideologize

Related words

• idea
• -logy

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press