Meaning

noun a social organization in which diversity of racial or religious or ethnic or cultural groups is tolerated

noun the doctrine that reality consists of several basic substances or elements

noun the practice of one person holding more than one benefice at a time

originEtymology tree English plural Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English pluralism From plural + -ism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0