-ism, -ismus


A bodily condition resembling acromegaly but not due to pituitary disorder.
The method of acrostics; acrostichal arrangement or character.
Absence or imperceptibility of the pulse.
acrotropism (noun), acrotropisms (pl)
The continued growth of a plant in the same direction in which it originally started.
1. The ability of sunlight or similar forms of radiation to produce chemical changes.
2. The intrinsic property in radiation that produces photochemical activity.
3. The production of chemical change by actinic radiation.
adactylism (s) (noun), adactylisms (pl)
The congenital (at birth) absence of fingers and/or toes.
Nitrogen bubbles formed in the blood or tissues during decompression sickness; also known as decompression sickness.
aeronautism (s) (noun), aeronautisms (pl)
The practice of ascending and floating in the sky; such as, in a balloon.
aerotropism (s) (noun), aerotropisms (pl)
2. The growth or movement of an organism toward an air supply; such as, an air bubble in a bacterial culture chamber.


-Jean Kerr
Afro-pessimism, Afro pessimism
The notion that the future of Africa is bleak because of the multitudes of problems faced by the continent.
The doctrine exalting the value of love, especially in its general, nonsexual sense.

An iconoclastic view: " 'Love Feast,' first of Aphrodite's holy whores (Horae), was canonized as a Christian saint when icons of the Horae were re-lableled 'virgin martyrs': Sts. Agape, Chione, and Irene. Agape originally personified the rite of sexual communion, as practiced in Aphrodite's temples and adopted by some early Christian sects as a Tantric type of 'spiritual marriage'. By the 7th century C.E. (Common Era) the agape ceremony was declared heretical, but it continued secretly throughout the Middle Ages."

—Barbara G. Walker, The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets
Harper San Francisco; 1983; page 12.
1. The doctrine that all things tend towards ultimate good, as distinguished from optimism which holds that all things are now for the best.
2. The doctrine that all things can result in ultimate good, although perhaps not always along the best roads.
3. The system that recognizes the existence of evil, but holds that all things tend toward good.
4. A belief in the ultimate triumph of good despite any evil conditions or methods.