pacifism

noun [ˈpæsɪˌfɪzəm]

pronunciation

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, open source

Pacifism is a doctrine or stance against war and armed violence in politics, aimed at settling disputes between states by peaceful means.

source

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

Definitions

A political doctrine or programme that favours settling interstate disputes by arbitration, treaties and negotiation rather than by armed force.

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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
An ethical or ideological stance that rejects armed violence as unjustifiable, or that admits it only under very strict moral limits.

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In figurative use: a habit of avoiding conflict, a conciliatory tone and a preference for peaceful settlement also outside international relations.

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Examples

The historian described pacifism as a programme in which arbitration and peace treaties were meant to replace an arms race.

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During floor discussion MPs contrasted pacifism with a rearmament agenda to clarify the quarrel over diplomacy versus the army.

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The columnist stressed that a critique of absolute pacifism need not reject diplomacy when the point is the limit of using force.

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In the seminar students compared pacifism, antimilitarism and disarmament: the first stresses a principle of peace, the second opposition to military predominance, the third a cut in armaments.

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

Usage

Everyday talk often treats pacifism as naive refusal of war or, conversely, as praise for a principled rejection of armed force. Academic prose is clearer when it states which strand is meant: an absolute ban on violence, support for arbitration, or opposition to standing armies. Militarist critique forms its own register. State whether you mean an absolute doctrine, a political programme, or only figurative conciliatory habits. Without that frame the label collapses into a vague moral verdict about cowardice or heroism.

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

In Webster (1913) Pacifism stands as its own entry: a teaching that every use of violence lacks justification, paired with confidence that interstate quarrels can be closed by arbitration. Nearby stand related pacific and pacify forms. Skeat under PACIFY derives French pacifier from Latin pacificare (pax plus facere) and lists pacifier, pacification, pacificator and pacific, with no pacifism among those derivatives. So the -ism lemma is already present in Webster 1913, while Skeat's 1910 line stops short of it.

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Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913; W. W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 1910, open source

Common pairings include absolute pacifism, critique of pacifism, tradition of pacifism, supporter of pacifism, and pacifism and disarmament. Pacifist as a noun or adjective labels a person or stance; pacific as an adjective is older and wider in scope. Good usage keeps pacifism apart from ordinary diplomacy: the latter can name routine negotiation, while the former marks a doctrine that rejects or severely limits war. Authors still draw that border in different places.

source

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

Morphologically the noun joins the pacific / pacify family (Latin pacificare from pax, pacis plus facere) to the suffix -ism. Webster 1913 already records Pacifism as a headword for that anti-violence teaching and for belief in arbitration of international disputes. Skeat 1910 under PACIFY lists pacifier, pacification, pacificator and pacific, yet not the -ism lemma. Our senses rest on those public domain facts rather than on a modern encyclopaedia paraphrase.

source

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

Word forms

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

word forms

przypadek	forma
singular	pacifism
plural	pacifisms

Word forms: Editorial team

Collocations

absolute pacifism

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critique of pacifism

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tradition of pacifism

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supporter of pacifism

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pacifism and disarmament

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Synonyms · Antonyms

Synonyms anti-war stance, peace advocacy, nonviolence

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Antonyms militarism, warmongering, militarist policy

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Etymology

English pacifism is built on the pacific / pacify family from Latin pacificare (pax, pacis plus facere) plus the suffix -ism. In Skeat 1910 the PACIFY article starts from French pacifier from Latin pacificare, and the derivative line covers pacifier, pacification, pacificator and pacific, yet stops short of a lemma pacifism. Webster 1913 has Pacifism in the sense of an anti-violence teaching and the belief that all international disputes can be settled by arbitration, together with related pacific and pacify forms. Unlike later political -isms that older public domain dictionaries lack as headwords, Pacifism is already attested in Webster 1913, while Skeat's PACIFY derivatives stop short of pacifism.

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

pacific , adjective: peacemaking, calm; also related to the Pacific Ocean name (Skeat PACIFY line; Webster 1913)
pacify , verb: to make peaceful; from F. pacifier, L. pacificare (Skeat PACIFY)
pacification , related noun in Skeat's PACIFY derivative line
pacifist , noun or adjective: adherent of pacifism; related form beside Pacifism (Webster 1913 family)
pax , etymologically related Latin noun: peace (stem in pacificare)

Related entries

The same entry in Polish: pacyfizm

Questions and answers

What does pacifism mean?

It names opposition to war and to armed force as an ordinary tool of statecraft, aiming to resolve quarrels between states through peaceful channels. Sense one is a political programme of arbitration and treaties; sense two an ethical rejection or strict limit on force; sense three figurative conflict avoidance beyond international relations.

source

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

Where does the word pacifism come from?

Its root runs through Latin pax, pacis and pacificare (pax plus facere) into the English pacific / pacify family, plus the suffix -ism. Skeat's PACIFY entry records pacifier, pacification, pacificator and pacific among derivatives, yet omits pacifism. Webster lists Pacifism (anti-violence teaching; belief in arbitration), so the -ism lemma is already attested in that 1913 dictionary.

source

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

How is pacifism inflected in English?

As a regular English noun it is usually uncountable. A plural pacifisms shows up only when writers separate national or doctrinal strands. Nearby forms include pacific, pacify, pacification, pacifist and pax (Webster 1913; Skeat 1910).

source

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

How is pacifism different from antimilitarism?

Antimilitarism often stresses opposition to military predominance, standing armies and a cult of armaments. Pacifism stresses a principle of peace, rejection of war, or settlement of disputes by treaties and arbitration. The two strands are often linked historically, yet their scopes do not match in every text.

source

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