n.
Pronunciation: - ˌ li-z ə m
Function: noun
Date: 1927
1 : an educational theory that ideas and skills basic to a culture should be taught to all alike by time-tested methods ― compare PROGRESSIVISM
2 : a philosophical theory ascribing ultimate reality to essence embodied in a thing perceptible to the senses ― compare NOMINALISM
3 : the practice of regarding something (as a presumed human trait) as having innate existence or universal validity rather than as being a social, ideological, or intellectual construct
– es · sen · tial · ist \ -list \ adjective or noun