Dictionary

fascism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

/faˈsis(ə)m/ (Philippines)
făsh'ĭz(ə)m (US)
/faˈsiz(ə)m/ (Philippines)
/ˈfæʃɪz(ə)m/ (US)
(General-American) audio

Etymology

From Italian fascismo, from fascio (“fasces, bundle, group”) + -ismo (“-ism”) with direct reference to Benito Mussolini's fasci di combattimento ("fight clubs"), from Latin fasces, bundles of axes and rods carried before the magistrates of the ancient Roman Republic as representative of their power of life and death. Originally with exclusive reference to Fascist Italy which used the fasces as an emblem, later broadened to describe all of the Axis Powers of World War II, and subsequently used as a general term of opprobrium in English and international political discourse. Etymology tree Latin fascis Italian fascio Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ῐσμός (-ĭsmós)bor. Latin -ismus Italian -ismo Italian fascismolbor. English fascism

Meanings

(uncountable, usually) Any right-wing, authoritarian, nationalist ideology characterized by centralized, totalitarian governance, strong regimentation of the economy and society, and repression of criticism or opposition.
- Fascism, at any rate the German version, is a form of capitalism that borrows from Socialism just such features as will make it efficient for war purposes... Ownership has never been abolished, there are still capitalists and workers, and—this is the important point, and the real reason why rich men all over the world tend to sympathize with Fascism—generally speaking the same people are capitalists and the same people workers as before the Nazi revolution. But at the same time the State, which is simply the Nazi Party, is in control of everything... The mere efficiency of such a system, the elimination of waste and obstruction, is obvious. In seven years it has built up the most powerful war machine the world has ever seen. 1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn, Pt. II:
- Despite the three decades that have passed since the end of the second world war, fascism remains a subject of much heated argument. […] It also continues to be a subject of controversy, partly because it collides with so many preconceived ideological notions, partly because generalizations are made difficult by the fact that there was not one fascism but several fascisms. 1978, Walter Laqueur, Fascism: A Reader's Guide: Analyses, Interpretations, Bibliography:
- Fascism became an all-purpose term because one can eliminate from a fascist regime one or more features, and it will still be recognizable as fascist. Take away imperialism from fascism and you still have Franco and Salazar. Take away colonialism and you still have the Balkan fascism of the Ustashes. 1995 June 22, Umberto Eco, “Ur-Fascism”, in The New York Review of Books, archived from the original on 31 Jan 2017:
- His criticism of what he calls “Kurdish fascism” prompted this interview, which is part of my current doctoral research[...] 2024 January 9, “The Out-of-Flock Dissident: An Interview with Kurdish – Syrian Writer Jan Dost”, in Cambridge University Press, retrieved 18 May 2026:
(qualifier:strictest sense, uncountable, usually) Any right-wing, authoritarian, nationalist ideology characterized by centralized, totalitarian governance, strong regimentation of the economy and society, and repression of criticism or opposition. ▸ The ideology and practice of the 20th-century Italian movement from which this name came.
- Today "Fascism" like Russian "Bolshevism" does not know what freedom means and cares less about the principles of liberty and the rights of man. It knows only one law and that is the will of Mussolini and his band of "Black Shirts." 1922 December 14, The American Photo-engraver, volume 15, page 324:
- Fascism, with all its forcefulness in the prosecution of its violent deeds, is indeed nothing else but the expression of the disintegration and decay of capitalist economy, and the symptom of the dissolution of the bourgeois State. 1923 August, Clara Zetkin, “Fascism”, in Labour Monthly, volume 5, number 2, page 70:
(broadly, derogatory, uncountable, usually) Any system of strong autocracy or oligarchy usually to the extent of bending and breaking the law, race-baiting, and/or violence against largely unarmed populations.
- ...even the people who recklessly fling the word ‘Fascist’ in every direction attach at any rate an emotional significance to it. By ‘Fascism’ they mean, roughly speaking, something cruel, unscrupulous, arrogant, obscurantist, anti-liberal and anti-working-class. Except for the relatively small number of Fascist sympathizers, almost any English person would accept ‘bully’ as a synonym for ‘Fascist’. That is about as near to a definition as this much-abused word has come. 1944, George Orwell, What Is Fascism?:
- For Argentine fascists and nacionalistas, fascism was not a theory but a mold for Catholic thinking. For instance, one of the most significant nacionalista intellectuals, César Pico, argued that fascism was a "reaction against the calamities ascribed to liberal democracy, socialism, and capitalism. It's a reaction that, although instinctive in its origins, is searching for a doctrine that could justify it." 2009, Federico Finchelstein, Transatlantic Fascism: Ideology, Violence, and the Sacred in Argentina and Italy, 1919-1945:
(derogatory, figuratively, uncountable, usually) Any extreme reliance on or enforcement of rules and regulations.

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
Fascism		alternative	lexicographic
fascisms	Number=Plur		lexicographic

Translations (105)

da fascisme (system of strong autocracy or oligarchy) · id fasisme (extreme totalitarian political regime) · cy ffasgiaeth (extreme totalitarian political regime) · my ဖက်ဆစ်ဝါဒ (extreme totalitarian political regime) · nn fascisme (extreme totalitarian political regime) · nb fascisme (extreme totalitarian political regime) · sv fascism (extreme totalitarian political regime) · nb fasisme (extreme totalitarian political regime) · tr faşizm (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ur فاشِیَت (extreme totalitarian political regime) · cy ffasgaeth (extreme totalitarian political regime) · et fašism (extreme totalitarian political regime) · km កលាបនិយម (system of strong autocracy or oligarchy) · lv fašisms (extreme totalitarian political regime) · tg фашизм (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ru фаши́зм (extreme totalitarian political regime) · kmr faşizm (extreme totalitarian political regime) · tt фашизм (extreme totalitarian political regime) · pl faszyzm (extreme totalitarian political regime) · lo ລັດທິຟາດຊິດ (extreme totalitarian political regime) · hi फ़ैसिज़्म (extreme totalitarian political regime) · hi फ़ासीवाद (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ms fasisme (extreme totalitarian political regime) · kk фашизм (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ka ფაშიზმი (extreme totalitarian political regime) · mk фаши́зам (extreme totalitarian political regime) · nl fascisme (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ro fascism (extreme totalitarian political regime) · lt fašizmas (extreme totalitarian political regime) · sq fashizëm (extreme totalitarian political regime) · el φασισμός (extreme totalitarian political regime) · it fascismo (extreme totalitarian political regime) · bn ফ্যাসিবাদ (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ky фашизм (extreme totalitarian political regime) · scn fascìsimu (extreme totalitarian political regime) · es fascismo (extreme totalitarian political regime) · uk фаши́зм (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ko 파시즘 (extreme totalitarian political regime) · sh фашѝзам (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ca feixisme (system of strong autocracy or oligarchy) · th ฟาสซิสต์ (extreme totalitarian political regime) · uz fashizm (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ug فاشىزم (extreme totalitarian political regime) · km កលាបនិយម (extreme totalitarian political regime) · hu fasizmus (extreme totalitarian political regime) · rsk фашизм (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ast fascismu (extreme totalitarian political regime) · fa-ira فاشیسْم (extreme totalitarian political regime) · la fascismus (extreme totalitarian political regime) · tk faşizm (extreme totalitarian political regime) · hy ֆաշիզմ (system of strong autocracy or oligarchy) · cmn 法西斯主義 /法西斯主义 (extreme totalitarian political regime) · vo faszid (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ur فاشِزْم (extreme totalitarian political regime) · mn фашизм (extreme totalitarian political regime) · be фашы́зм (extreme totalitarian political regime) · sh fašìzam (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ga faisisteachas (extreme totalitarian political regime) · hy ֆաշիզմ (extreme totalitarian political regime) · de Faschismus (extreme totalitarian political regime) · is fasismi (extreme totalitarian political regime) · fr fascisme (extreme totalitarian political regime) · br faskouriezh (extreme totalitarian political regime) · si ෆැසිස්ට්වාදය (extreme totalitarian political regime) · eu faxismo (extreme totalitarian political regime) · he פַשִׁיזְם (extreme totalitarian political regime) · sc fascismu (extreme totalitarian political regime) · cs fašismus (extreme totalitarian political regime) · gl fascismo (extreme totalitarian political regime) · af fascisme (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ps فاشيزم (extreme totalitarian political regime) · oc fascisme (extreme totalitarian political regime) · it fascismo (system of strong autocracy or oligarchy) · eo faŝismo (extreme totalitarian political regime) · nn fasisme (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ar فَاشِيَّة (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ce фашизм (extreme totalitarian political regime) · pt fascismo (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ta பாசிசம் (system of strong autocracy or oligarchy) · yue 法西斯主義 /法西斯主义 (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ta பாசிசம் (extreme totalitarian political regime) · hi फ़ासिज़्म (extreme totalitarian political regime) · fi fasismi (extreme totalitarian political regime) · te ఫాసిజం (extreme totalitarian political regime) · tl pasismo (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ja ファシズム (extreme totalitarian political regime) · cs fašismus (system of strong autocracy or oligarchy) · da fascisme (extreme totalitarian political regime) · rsk фашизем (extreme totalitarian political regime) · scn fascìsimu (system of strong autocracy or oligarchy) · eo faŝismo (system of strong autocracy or oligarchy) · vi chủ nghĩa phát xít (extreme totalitarian political regime) · gu ફાસીવાદ (extreme totalitarian political regime) · sk fašizmus (extreme totalitarian political regime) · ru фаши́зм (system of strong autocracy or oligarchy) · bo ཧྥ་ཤི་སིའི་རིང་ལུགས (extreme totalitarian political regime) · bg фаши́зъм (extreme totalitarian political regime) · az faşizm (extreme totalitarian political regime) · co fascismu (extreme totalitarian political regime) · rue фаші́зм (extreme totalitarian political regime) · sl fašizem (extreme totalitarian political regime) · yi פֿאַשיזם (extreme totalitarian political regime) · tl pasismo (system of strong autocracy or oligarchy) · ca feixisme (extreme totalitarian political regime) · th ลัทธิฟาสซิสต์ (extreme totalitarian political regime)

wikipedia: Fascist Italy · wikipedia: World War II · wikidata: Q6223 · wikipedia: Benito Mussolini · wikidata: Q747081 · wikidata: Q6223 · wikipedia: Axis Powers · wikipedia: fasci di combattimento

fascism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

Forms

Antonyms

Coordinates

Deriveds

Hypernyms

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Translations (105)