-ism and -ity Quick reference
Fowler’s Concise Dictionary of Modern English Usage (3 ed.)
...are derived via Old French from the Latin noun endings - ismus and - itas . The suffix - ism forms nouns based on verbs, adjectives, or nouns ( baptism, criticism, heroism ), and has a number of special meanings: (1) a political or religious movement or system of thought ( atheism, Buddhism, realism ), (2) a pathological condition ( alcoholism, Parkinsonism ), (3) a special feature or peculiarity of language ( Americanism, Gallicism ), (4) a basis of prejudice or discrimination (a 20c development first apparent in racism , and more recently in sexism,...
-ism and -ity Reference library
Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage (4 ed.)
...of persons, but with no accompanying verb, e.g. heroism, patriotism ; ( c ) forming the name of a system of theory or practice, religious, political, etc., e.g. Buddhism, Judaism ; ( d ) a subclass of ( c ) forming class names for doctrines or principles, e.g. agnosticism, atheism, Communism, realism ; ( e ) forming terms denoting a characteristic feature, esp. of language, e.g. Gallicism, Scotticism; ( f ) a pathological condition, e.g. alcoholism, Parkinsonism ; ( g ) in the second half of the 20c. forming ‘politically correct’ terms such as ableism ...
