totem
a natural object or an animate being, as an animal or bird, assumed as the emblem of a clan, family, or group.
an object or natural phenomenon that a family or descendant group considers themselves closely related to.
a representation of a natural object, animate being, etc., that serves as the distinctive mark or emblem of a clan, family, or group.
anything serving as a distinctive, often venerated, emblem or symbol.
Origin of totem
1Other words from totem
- to·tem·ic [toh-tem-ik], /toʊˈtɛm ɪk/, adjective
- sub·to·tem, noun
Words Nearby totem
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use totem in a sentence
Before him is a gleaming chunk of glass, roughly the size of a toaster oven, that is carved with so many scooped-out sections to reduce its weight that it looks like an alien totem.
Inside the machine that saved Moore’s Law | Clive Thompson | October 27, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewEach totem required its wielder to pass a test proving their mastery of each force.
How Supergirl Revamped Superman IV's Story And Made It Work | noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) | October 17, 2021 | TechCrunchFor the Lummi Nation, totem poles historically are carved with symbols that represent a certain clan of a tribe or show a family or tribe’s lineage.
A 25-foot Native American totem pole arrives in D.C. after a journey to sacred lands across U.S. | Dana Hedgpeth | July 29, 2021 | Washington PostThe latest totem in our hyperpartisan and politically polarized culture war is the terminology around race relations in America.
A well-worn argument about race, intelligence and violence | Theodore Johnson | June 25, 2021 | Washington PostScientists such as Fauci, after all, have been turned into totems of all that is wrong with the scientific community guiding public policy on things like coronavirus mitigation and climate change.
Some childhood totem, like a stuffed animal . . . or a sled?
He would never deign me with any sort of acknowledgment, because I was too low on the totem pole.
Chloe Sevigny on ‘The Cosmopolitans,’ New York’s Frat Boy Takeover, and ‘Asshole’ Michael Alig | Marlow Stern | August 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThat is something I look at as a totem of what movies used to be.
The Director Isn’t Done Yet: An Interview With Steven Soderbergh | Andrew Romano | August 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTImagine how Vanessa feels, then, looking up from an even lower level on the sexual totem pole.
William, patron of numerous anti-poaching organisations, will be a very visible totem of the cause throughout the week.
They adopt a “totem” or symbol of the family and this is generally some animal, the turtle, bear and wolf being favorites.
The Wonder Book of Knowledge | VariousOccasionally, in very uncultivated tribes, some family or totem claimed a monopoly of the priesthood.
The Myths of the New World | Daniel G. BrintonTheir totem was that of the serpent, and their name is not altogether unlike the Tuscarora name of this animal usquauhne.
The Myths of the New World | Daniel G. BrintonOn the contrary, it is extremely probable that they were an Algonkin totem, which had the exclusive right to the priesthood.
The Myths of the New World | Daniel G. BrintonI allude to the institution of the totem, which has been well known among the Algonquin tribes from the settlement of Canada.
The Indian in his Wigwam | Henry R. Schoolcraft
British Dictionary definitions for totem
/ (ˈtəʊtəm) /
(in some societies, esp among North American Indians) an object, species of animal or plant, or natural phenomenon symbolizing a clan, family, etc, often having ritual associations
a representation of such an object
Origin of totem
1Derived forms of totem
- totemic (təʊˈtɛmɪk), adjective
- totemically, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for totem
An animal, plant, or other object in nature that has a special relationship to a person, family, or clan and serves as a sign for that person or group.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with totem
see low man on the totem pole.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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