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Lexicon.

fascism

noun [ˈfæˌʃɪzəm]
pronunciation CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, open source

Fascism is a political doctrine of authoritarian nationalism that builds a strong state and subordinates the individual to the nation.

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Definitions

  1. In political theory: a doctrine that joins strong central power, nationalism and the rule that the person must yield to the state or nation, usually with a rejection of liberal parliamentary democracy.
    source Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
  2. In history: a regime built on that doctrine, especially in Italy in the early twentieth century, and in a wider sense related nationalist dictatorships.
    source Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
  3. Informally, as a pejorative: an extreme authoritarian, violent or anti-liberty attitude, also outside a strict historical setting.
    source Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)

Examples

Usage

In everyday English fascism is often used broadly, as a strong charge against a political opponent rather than as a precise term for a form of government. In scholarly and historical writing it is safer to limit the word to doctrines and regimes close to the Italian model of the early twentieth century, or to mark clearly that the use is figurative. That habit keeps a description of an ideology apart from pure invective.

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Webster (1913) has no separate lemma for fascism. It does define fasces as a bundle of rods with the projecting iron of an axe, carried before the Roman magistrates as a symbol and an emblem of authority, and it derives the name from Latin fascis, a bundle. The modern political sense of English fascism belongs to a later period, after that edition, within the same word family.

source Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open source

Skeat (1910) records fascine as a bundle of rods used in fortification and earthworks, taken from French fascine and Latin fascina. The ultimate source is Latin fascis, a bundle; Skeat lists fascés as the plural. In English dictionaries this building sense of fascine is older than the political noun fascism, which these public domain sources do not yet record.

source Editorial team; facts: W. W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Oxford 1910, open source

Common collocations include Italian fascism, the fight against fascism, victims of fascism and the rise of fascism. A supporter is a fascist, and the matching adjectives are fascist and fascistic. Related forms include fasces, fascine and antifascism. Careful writing sets fascism apart from communism and from nazism: fascism centres on nation and a strong nationalist state, communism aims to abolish private ownership of production, and nazism names the German National Socialist regime; all three may be totalitarian, yet their goals differ.

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Word forms

Regular English noun, usually uncountable; the plural fascisms is rare and refers to different kinds or national versions of the doctrine.

word forms

przypadek forma
singular fascism
plural fascisms

Word forms: Editorial team

Collocations

Synonyms · Antonyms

Antonyms democracy, liberalism
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Etymology

Skeat traces English fascine through French fascine to Latin fascina, itself from Latin fascis meaning a bundle, and he notes fascés (plural of fascis) among related forms. Webster (1913) glosses fasces as rods bound together with an axe, borne before Roman magistrates as a mark of authority, and ties the name to Latin fascis. That dictionary has no separate lemma fascism. The modern political sense arrived later via Italian fascismo (fascio with the suffix -ismo), after the First World War; that Italian step lies beyond the public domain sources used here.
source W. W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Oxford 1910, open source
also Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open source

Related words

Related entries

Questions and answers

What does fascism mean?

It names a political doctrine and a form of rule built on strong state power, nationalism and the subordination of the individual to the nation. In casual speech it is also a harsh label for extreme authoritarianism in general.

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Where does the word fascism come from?

The root goes back to Latin fascis, a bundle, known from the ancient fasces. Skeat and Webster describe that word family through fascine and fasces. The modern political sense arrived later through Italian fascismo; that step is outside the public domain sources cited here.

source W. W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Oxford 1910, open source

How is fascism different from communism?

Fascism puts the nation and a strong nationalist state at the centre. Communism programmes the abolition of private ownership of the means of production and builds a class community. Both may be totalitarian, yet their aims for ownership and nation are different.

source Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)