Modernism

How to spell modernism

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce modernism

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does modernism mean?

1. nounA style or movement in art, architecture, or literature that deliberately breaks with tradition and embraces new forms.

Modernism in a sentence

• The gallery devoted a whole floor to early twentieth-century modernism.

• Her thesis traced the influence of modernism on modern poetry.

Where does modernism come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on 'modern', which comes from the Late Latin modernus, meaning 'of the present time' or 'just now'. That Latin adjective was formed from the adverb modo, which literally meant 'just now' or 'in a certain measure', itself related to modus, meaning 'measure' or 'manner'. English picked up 'modern' through Old French in the 1500s, and the abstract suffix '-ism', from Greek by way of Latin and French, was later attached to name a doctrine or movement. By the late nineteenth and early twentieth century 'modernism' came to label the deliberate break with tradition in art, architecture, and literature. The same modo root quietly survives in 'mode', 'model', and 'modest', which is a useful reminder that the heart of the word is mod, not mode.

How the word is built

• modern (from Latin modernus: of the present time)
• -ism (noun suffix denoting a movement or doctrine)