ˌindəˈvij(ə)wəˌlizəm, -jəˌl- noun
( -s )
Etymology: French individualisme, from Medieval Latin individualis individual + French -isme -ism
1.
a.
(1) : the ethical doctrine or principle that the interests of the individual himself are or ought to be paramount in determination of conduct : ethical egoism ; also : conduct guided by the principle
(2) : the conception that all values, rights, and duties originate in individuals and that the community or social whole has no value or ethical significance not derived from its constituent individuals
b.
(1) : the doctrine which holds that the chief end of society is the promotion of individual welfare and the chief end of moral law is the development of individual character ; also : conduct or practice guided by such a doctrine
(2) : a theory or policy having primary regard for individual rights and especially maintaining the political and economic independence of the individual or maintaining the independence of individual initiative, action, and interests (as in industrial organization or in government) ; also : conduct or practice guided by such a theory or policy — compare collectivism , paternalism , socialism
c. : any vigorous and independent striving toward an individual goal or any markedly independent assertion of individual opinions especially without regard for others or in defiance of an institution or larger authority
2.
a. : individuality
the individualism of the backwoodsman — Theodore Roosevelt
b. : an individual peculiarity : idiosyncrasy
3. : the philosophical doctrine that reality is constituted of individual entities (as the monads of Leibniz)
4. : an association of two nutritionally interdependent organisms which produces a distinct individual unlike either of the components in form and conditions of life (as in lichens)