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totemic

UK/təʊˈtɛmɪk/US/təʊˈtɛmɪk/
adjectiveC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #15,220 of 15,258Too rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Totemic means standing as a powerful symbol for a group. A totemic issue.

The word comes from the totem, an animal or object a clan identified with. A totemic issue cannot be compromised on, because it stands for far more than itself.

Andrevruas · CC BY-SA 3.0

Definitions of totemic

  1. 1adjectivetotemicStanding as a powerful symbol for a group.C2

    “The building had become totemic and could not be touched.”

totemic is a quality.

Where it comes from

  1. oj

    doodem

  2. English

    totem

  3. English, today

    totemic

From totem + -ic. totem Borrowed from oj doodem.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

totemic in the wild

  • Wollunqua is a totemic ancestor of the Warramunga people, specifically the Uluuru moiety of the tribe.

    Wollunqua

  • The name "Tamaroa" is a derivative of the word tamarowa meaning "cut tail" in Illiniwek and relates to a totemic animal such as bear or wildcat.

    Tamaroa people

  • Fair-style octopus is the totemic food of the patron saint festivities of Lugo.

    Polbo á feira

  • The area has high cultural significance due largely to its totemic significance and creation by the Wagyl in the Dreaming.

    Denmark River

  • Roy Thomas was one of the most influential 20th-century Anishinaabe painters in Canada, and was famous for paintings of colourful totemic animals.

    Roy Thomas (artist)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the doodem family

totem

totemic — used about once every 159,543 pages · #15,220 · point at the bar for the others