totem

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: to=tem

CIDE DICTIONARY

totem, n. [Massachusetts Indian wutohtimoin that to which a person or place belongs.].

•  A rude picture, as of a bird, beast, or the like, used by the North American Indians as a symbolic designation, as of a family or a clan; also, the object or animal itself, considered as an symbol of the family.  [1913 Webster]

  "And they painted on the grave posts
  Of the graves, yet unforgotten,
  Each his own ancestral totem
  Each the symbol of his household;
  Figures of the bear and reindeer,
  Of the turtle, crane, and beaver."  [1913 Webster]

  "The totem, the clan deity, the beast or bird who in some supernatural way attends to the clan and watches over it."  [1913 Webster]
•  Anything which serves as a venerated or mystic symbol or emblem.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

totem, n.
1 a natural object, esp. an animal, adopted by North American Indians as an emblem of a clan or an individual.
2 an image of this.

Idiom

totem-pole
1 a pole on which totems are carved or hung.
2 a hierarchy.

Derivative

totemic adj. totemism n. totemist n. totemistic adj.

Etymology

Algonquian

THESAURUS

totem

allegory, ancestral spirits, angel, animal kingdom, ashram, attendant godling, blood, body, breed, brood, caste, charactery, cipher, clan, class, colony, commonwealth, commune, community, control, conventional symbol, daemon, deme, demon, economic class, emblem, endogamous group, extended family, fairy godmother, familiar, familiar spirit, family, folk, genius, genius domus, genius loci, gens, good angel, good genius, guardian, guardian angel, guardian spirit, guide, house, household gods, iconology, ideogram, invisible helper, kind, kinship group, lares and penates, lares compitales, lares familiaris, lares permarini, lares praestites, lares viales, line, lineage, logogram, logotype, love knot, manes, matriclan, ministering angel, moiety, nation, nuclear family, numen, order, patriclan, penates, people, phratria, phratry, phyle, pictogram, plant kingdom, race, sept, settlement, social class, society, special providence, species, stem, stirps, stock, strain, subcaste, symbol, symbolic system, symbolism, symbolization, symbology, token, totem pole, tribe, tutelar god, tutelary, type

ROGET THESAURUS

totem

Indication

N indication, symbolism, symbolization, semiology, semiotics, semeiology, semeiotics, Zeitgeist, characteristic, diagnostic, lineament, feature, trait, fingerprint, voiceprint, footprint, noseprint, cloven hoof, footfall, recognition (memory), diagnostic, divining rod, detector, sign, symbol, index, indice, indicator, point, pointer, exponent, note, token, symptom, dollar sign, dollar mark, type, figure, emblem, cipher, device, representation, epigraph, motto, posy, gesture, gesticulation, pantomime, wink, glance, leer, nod, shrug, beck, touch, nudge, dactylology, dactylonomy, freemasonry, telegraphy, chirology, byplay, dumb show, cue, hint, clue, clew, key, scent, signal, signal post, rocket, blue light, watch fire, watch tower, telegraph, semaphore, flagstaff, cresset, fiery cross, calumet, heliograph, guidon, headlight, mark, scratch, line, stroke, dash, score, stripe, streak, tick, dot, point, notch, nick, print, imprint, impress, impression, keyboard symbols, printing symbols, red letter, italics, sublineation, underlining, bold font, jotting, note, annotation, reference, blaze, cedilla, guillemets, hachure, quotation marks, ", double quotes, " ", parentheses, "( )", brackets, "", braces, "", left arrow, "<", right arrow, ">", forward slash, "/", backward slash, "\", exclamation point, "!", commercial at, "@", pound sign, "#", percent sign, "%", carat, "", ampersand, "&", asterisk, "*", hyphen, "-", dash, "-", "_", em dash, "--", plus sign, "+", equals sign, "=", question mark, "?", period, ", ", semicolon, ", ", colon, ":", comma, ", ", apostrophe, "'", single quote, "'", tilde, "~", badge, criterion, countercheck, countermark, countersign, counterfoil, duplicate, tally, label, ticket, billet, letter, counter, check, chip, chop, dib, totem, tessera, card, bill, witness, voucher, stamp, cacher, trade mark, Hall mark, signature, mark, autograph, autography, attestation, hand, hand writing, sign manual, cipher, seal, sigil, signet, hand and seal, paraph, brand, superscription, indorsement, endorsement, password, watchword, catchword, security card, pass, passkey, credentials, open sesame, timbrology, mot de passe, mot du guet, pass-parole, shibboleth, title, heading, docket, address card, visiting card, carte de visite, insignia, banner, banneret, bannerol, bandrol, flag, colors, streamer, standard, eagle, labarum, oriflamb, oriflamme, figurehead, ensign, pennon, pennant, pendant, burgee, blue Peter, jack, ancient, gonfalon, union jack, banderole, old glory, quarantine flag, vexillum, yellow-flag, yellow jack, tricolor, stars and stripes, bunting, heraldry, crest, coat of arms, arms, armorial bearings, hatchment, escutcheon, scutcheon, shield, supporters, livery, uniform, cockade, epaulet, chevron, garland, love knot, favor, beacon, cairn, post, staff, flagstaff, hand, pointer, vane, cock, weathercock, guidepost, handpost, fingerpost, directing post, signpost, pillars of Hercules, pharos, bale-fire, beacon-fire, l'etoile du Nord, landmark, seamark, lighthouse, balize, polestar, loadstar, lodestar, cynosure, guide, address, direction, name, sign, signboard, warning, omen, prefigurement, trace, record, warning &c, alarm, scepter, trophy, gauge, milestone, milepost, brand, fool's cap, check, telltale, test, mileage ticket, milliary, notification, advertisement, word of command, call, bugle call, trumpet call, bell, alarum, cry, battle cry, rallying cry, angelus, reveille, sacring bell, sanctus bell, exposition &c (explanation), proof, pattern, indicating, indicative, indicatory, denotative, connotative, diacritical, representative, typical, symbolic, pantomimic, pathognomonic, symptomatic, characteristic, demonstrative, diagnostic, exponential, emblematic, armorial, individual, known by, recognizable by, indicated, pointed, marked, denotable, indelible, in token of, symbolically, in dumb show, ecce signum, ex ungue leonem, ex pede Herculem, vide ut supra, vultus ariete fortior.