ism

ismi An ideology, system of thought, or practice that can be described by a word ending in -ism.
1843, w:Thomas_Carlyle Thomas Carlyle, :w:Past and Present (book)|Past and Present, book 2, ch. XV, Practical — Devotional

… his religion, his worship was like his daily bread to him; — which he did not take the trouble to talk much about; which he merely ate at stated intervals, and lived and did his work upon! This is :w:Samson of Tottington|Abbot Samson’s Catholicism of the Twelfth Century; — something like the Ism of all true men in all true centuries, I fancy! Alas, compared with any of the Isms current in these poor days, what a thing!

An ism does not have to possess the fearful implements of state power to cut off a a deviant or heretical member.

In his exposition, he has failed to achieve the identification of situation, theory, and policy necessary to create an ism.

Isms in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an ism – he should believe in himself.

It is important to distinguish between an ism and a mere generalization about group differences. Generalizations that have statistical validity are not isms. An ism assumes that the generalization applies to an individual.