counterculturalism

noun

The counterculture movement or lifestyle.

OriginEnglish countercultural ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← Middle French culture →
Scrabble 24
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Meanings

nouncounterculturalism (usually uncountable, plural counterculturalisms)

plural counterculturalisms

  1. uncountableusuallyThe counterculture movement or lifestyle.

    It was an outgrowth of Jobs's embrace of 60's counterculturalism -- he was a longtime, and rather irritating, vegetarian and lived in a commune.

    2000 August 10, James Poniewozik, “Operating System”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2019

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Italic*kom
  4. Proto-Italic*kom-
  5. Proto-Italic*komteros
  6. Proto-Italic*komterād
  7. Latincontrā
  8. Old Frenchcontre-
  9. Anglo-Normancountre-
  10. Middle Englishcounter-
  11. Englishcounter-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*kʷélh₁eti
  14. Proto-Italic*kʷelō
  15. Latincolō
  16. Latincultūra
  17. Middle Frenchculture
  18. Englishculture
  19. Englishcounterculture
  20. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  21. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  22. Englishcountercultural
  23. Englishcounterculturalism

From countercultural + -ism.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

counterculturalism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterculturalism

MLA

“counterculturalism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterculturalism. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “counterculturalism,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterculturalism.

Source: counterculturalism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.