Meanings
spiritualism1
nounspiritualism (countable and uncountable, plural spiritualisms)
plural spiritualisms
- countableuncountablehuman sciencesA doctrine, opposing materialism, that claims transcendency of the divine being, the altogether spiritual character of reality and the value of inwardness of consciousness.
What is called spiritualism should, I think, be called a mental species of materialism.
1880, R. H. Hutton, “Preface”, in Theological essays - countableuncountableA belief that the dead communicate with the living, especially through a medium. Used in a broader sense than spiritism.
I wish it were possible to impress this truth upon people who rush into spiritualism from curiosity, or who try "table rapping" or some similar phenomenon "for fun".
1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 229 - countableuncountableThe quality or state of being spiritual.
Spiritualism2
nounSpiritualism (uncountable)
- uncountableA belief that spirits of the dead have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living, providing useful knowledge about moral and ethical issues, as well as about the nature of God.
Synonyms & antonyms
Narrower
belief that dead communicate with the living
nounconcern with things of the spirit
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
spiritualism · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)peys-der.?
- Latinspīrō
- Latinspīritus
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Late Latinspīrituālis
- Old Frenchspiritue
- Middle Englishspiritual
- Englishspiritual
- Englishspiritualism
From spiritual + -ism. In Allan Kardec's book The Spirits Book (1857) (Le Livre des Esprits in the original French), in which a distinction between spiritism and spiritualism is defined.
Full word history & related roots →Spiritualism · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)peys-der.?
- Latinspīrō
- Latinspīritus
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Late Latinspīrituālis
- Old Frenchspiritue
- Middle Englishspiritual
- Englishspiritual
- EnglishSpiritualism
Translations
Catalan espiritualisme
- espiritualismethe philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
Chinese Mandarin 心靈論 /心灵论
- 心靈論 /心灵论 (xīnlínglùn)the philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
Finnish spiritualismi, spiritismi
- spiritualismithe philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
- spiritismithe belief that the dead communicate with the living through mediums
- henkisyysquality or state of being spiritual
- spiritismibelief
French spiritualisme, spiritisme
- spiritualismethe philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
- spiritismethe belief that the dead communicate with the living through mediums
German Spiritualismus, Spiritismus
- Spiritualismusthe philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
- Spiritismusthe belief that the dead communicate with the living through mediums
Greek σπιριτουαλισμός
- σπιριτουαλισμός (spiritoualismós)the philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
Hindi आत्मवाद, अध्यात्मवाद
- आत्मवाद (ātmavād)the philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
- अध्यात्मवाद (adhyātmavād)the philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
Icelandic spíritismi, spíritismi
- spíritismithe philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
- spíritismithe belief that the dead communicate with the living through mediums
Italian spiritualismo, spiritismo
- spiritualismothe philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
- spiritismothe belief that the dead communicate with the living through mediums
Japanese 唯心論, 心霊主義
- 唯心論 (yuishinron)the philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
- 心霊主義 (shinreishugi)the philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
Portuguese espiritualismo, espiritualismo
- espiritualismothe philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
- espiritualismothe belief that the dead communicate with the living through mediums
- espiritismothe belief that the dead communicate with the living through mediums
Romanian spiritualism, spiritualitate
- spiritualismthe philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
- spiritualitatequality or state of being spiritual
Russian спиритуали́зм, спирити́зм
- спиритуали́зм (spiritualízm)the philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
- спирити́зм (spiritízm)the belief that the dead communicate with the living through mediums
- спиритуали́зм (spiritualízm)the belief that the dead communicate with the living through mediums
- духо́вность (duxóvnostʹ)quality or state of being spiritual
Spanish espiritualismo, espiritualismo
- espiritualismothe philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism
- espiritualismothe belief that the dead communicate with the living through mediums
- espiritismothe belief that the dead communicate with the living through mediums
Tagalog diwakuro, pagkamakadiwa
- diwakurothe belief that the dead communicate with the living through mediums
- pagkamakadiwathe belief that the dead communicate with the living through mediums
Cite this entry
APA
spiritualism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spiritualism
MLA
“spiritualism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spiritualism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spiritualism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spiritualism.
Source: spiritualism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.