Dictionary

incendiarism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɪnˈsɛndɪəɹɪzm/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree English incendiary 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 -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English incendiarism From incendiary + -ism.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The act or practice of burning property; arson.
   • Incendiarism is a major fire problem in many cities; Mr. Fairtrace here recommends needed changes in insurance and fire protection methods. 1933, Public Management, volume 15, page 263:
   • In the surrounding black slums incendiarism shoots up in the summer, an index, soem say, of psychopathology. Although the love of flames it's also religious. 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 110:
2. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) Inflammatory or provocative action; instigation.
   • But the charge sheet is not just a recapitulation of instances of imperial incendiarism, such as the Amritsar massacre or the bombings of Iraqi villages. 2012, Piers Brendon, ‘Beginning the Dissent’, Literary Review, volume 401:

Forms