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Glite Dictionary
totemic

totemic

1 8.9
Connected with a special animal or object a group uses as its symbol
  • adjective
  • /toʊˈtɛmɪk/
: totémico
  • The festival featured totemic art that celebrated the heritage of the community.
  • totemic group
  • totemic law
  • totemic group affiliation

But probably all those things, which is quite an accolade, but it's it's I became totemic of what they what they hated was someone questioning.

Examples

  • Many cultures have totemic animals that embody the characteristics of their clans.

  • It's like these people are sort of totemic reminders of their world view.

  • Why did the Igbo make these small totemic figures?

    Academic text (1997)

  • Horticultural land is divided into named areas associated with each totemic group.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Rather, it reaffirmed a written Western legal system over an oral totemic system.

    Academic text (2009)

  • Certain objects, having attained a certain age, took on a totemic value in Houston that they would not have had elsewhere.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Food in the film is totemic, infused with significance, and an intergenerational means of communication.

    Academic text (2009)

  • Yet, in their relationship to oral tradition and use in totemic law, totem poles reinforced notions of clan ownership.

    Academic text (2009)

  • During flute performances, long yam exchanges, and in business ventures, the totemic groups display rivalry.

    Academic text (1992)

  • I've used totem poles here to elucidate my examination of totemic law because of their prominence in defining the Tlingit people.

    Academic text (2009)

Synonyms

totemistic
vstotemic
1 9.6

Relating to a belief that a group has a special animal or plant as its symbol

emphasizes use as an emblem for a clan or group

How Symbolic

totemic
1 8.9
emblematic
16 7.0
symbolic
156 4.3

Surface Forms

totemic positive

Morphology

totemic = totem (transparent) = totem + ic

The adjective is directly formed from the noun 'totem' with the productive suffix '-ic' meaning 'relating to', so the relation is clear.

Etymology

Totemic comes from totem, which itself comes from an Indigenous North American word odoodem meaning 'clan' or 'family sign'. So something totemic is like a group's special symbol or spirit — think of a totem pole with animal figures representing a clan — and the word is used for objects or ideas that stand for a community.