- ə lˌizəm noun
( -s )
1. : a principle or system of organization in which the major social or political units of the society are communes or local self-governing communities
2. : belief in or practice of communal living
3. : a system or principle of communal organization in which rival minority groups are devoted to their own interests rather than to those of the whole society : strong loyalty and adherence to one's community and its values sometimes appearing in excess and with nationally divisive effects ; broadly : ethnocentrism