Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 A follower of Owen 🤝 About Owen's beliefs
Owenite

Owenite

1 9.9
A person who supports Robert Owen's ideas about cooperative communities and social reform
  • noun
  • /ˈoʊənˌaɪt/
  • Archaic
: owenita
  • The Owenite principles inspired many to create alternative communities focused on shared resources.

Examples

  • The Owenite communities and the Shakers.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Among these are the Shakers, the Owenite and Fourierist communities, Oneida and Icaria.

    Academic text (1993)

  • There was his defiant opposition when, as shopkeeper for an Owenite cooperative bazaar, he was entrapped into an alleged violation of the pamphlet tax.

    Academic text (1998)

  • As an Owenite, she believed in the importance of cooperative living and communal ownership.

  • Many Owenites dedicated their lives to promoting the social reforms envisioned by Robert Owen.

Surface Forms

Owenite singular
Owenites plural

Morphology

Owenite = Owen (semi-transparent) = Owen + ite

Formally clear as 'Owen' + '-ite' meaning 'follower of Owen', but recognizing the referent requires knowledge of Robert Owen or the suffix '-ite'.

Etymology

Owenite comes from Robert Owen plus the ending -ite meaning 'follower', like in Luddite, so an Owenite is a person who supports his ideas about cooperative living and social reform.