egalitarianism

noun

egal·​i·​tar·​i·​an·​ism i-ˌga-lə-ˈter-ē-ə-ˌni-zəm 

1

: a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs

2

: a social philosophy advocating the removal of inequalities among people

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The Roots of Egalitarianism

Egalitarianism comes to the English language from the French. We fashioned egalitarian from their égalitaire “egalitarian” (which comes from the Latin aequalitas “equality”), and then added our -ism to it. The word first appeared in English in the late 19th century; our current earliest citation is from 1874, in The Times of India: “Before the Revolution the officers of one regiment welcomed brother corps with champagne suppers, but egalitarianism has brought us down to punch at five francs the bowl. . . ." The word has seen a subtle shift in meaning. Its earliest use was typically in reference to a belief in human equality; it has since taken on the sense “a social philosophy that advocates the removal of inequality among people.”

Examples of egalitarianism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Among these errors was to see liberalism, in its classic definition of course, as achieved by egalitarianism. —Robert Sirico, National Review, 24 June 2024

The secret of this success, according to Luttwak and Shamir’s engaging and eclectic book, begins with the IDF’s egalitarianism. —Shashank Joshi, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024

On the other side were Rousseau’s, who saw in prehistory—and its putative living representatives among non-Western societies—forms of egalitarianism and harmony that modernity had destroyed. —Maya Jasanoff, The New Yorker, 6 May 2024

The social stratification of the pre-revolutionary era, in each case, provided little room for egalitarianism. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1874, in the meaning defined at sense 1