totem English · revision 1479

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1609}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈtəʊtəm/ ''(UK)''; /ˈtoʊtəm/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from an Algonquian language, probably Ojibwa:^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) compare [[oj|ototeman|t=his sibling kin; his totem]] and [[m|oj|nindoodem|t=my totem]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The RHWU suggests that the stem originally meant “clan-village-mate”.^(RHWU) Weekley notes that the ''t-'' may represent the end of a possessive prefix.^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Among the indigenous peoples of America, the hereditary emblem of a tribe or clan (1609 in the OED, as ''aoutem'' among the peoples of Nova Scotia; 1760 in Etymonline; 1760–76 in Barnhart).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The earliest record, ''aoutem'', is in a French account of about 1600 of the Mi'kmaq or other peoples of Nova Scotia.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) From the mid-19th century anthropologists extended the word to other peoples divided into clans named after animals or plants,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) a usage Weekley attributes to Lubbock.^(Weekley 1921) The ''totem pole'' is recorded from 1808, of the peoples of the Pacific coast of Canada.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Figuratively a totem is any venerated emblem or symbol (1890),^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) and in colloquial use ''low on the totem'' means low in rank (1974).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1609 – ''aoutem'', a clan emblem.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1760 – ''totem''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1808 – ''totem pole''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1890 – a venerated symbol.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1974 – ''low on the totem''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An animal, plant or natural object serving among certain peoples as the emblem of a [[clan]] or family, and sometimes revered as its ancestor or guardian.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A representation of such an object, often carved or painted.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A clan or group identified by a common totem.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A venerated emblem or symbol.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[totemic]]

+ * [[totemically]]

+ * [[subtotem]]

+ * [[totemite]]

+ * [[totemism]]

+ * [[totemist]]

+ * [[totemistic]]

+ * [[totem pole]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[emblem]]

+ * [[fetish]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}