Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of or pertaining to a totem; characterized by a totem: as, a totemic relative or relationship.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to a totem, or totemism.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Serving as a
totem .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective relating to totemism
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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In the form, then, in which it is known, the Iroquois organization cannot be called totemic -- whether it was originally such must be left undetermined.
Introduction to the History of Religions Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume IV Crawford Howell Toy 1877
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The Shard of Glass is just the kind of totemic confidence booster the country needs.
Construction gives UK economic recovery an unstable foundation Phillip Inman 2010
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The "totemic" prohibition in this instance really seems to have a hygienic origin.
The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism Franz Cumont
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Mr Clegg acknowledged that it was "self-evidently extraordinarily controversial" for the party to back higher fees, given its previous "totemic" policy of abolishing them.
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The Shard of Glass is just the kind of totemic confidence booster the country needs.
The Guardian World News Phillip Inman 2010
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Some are totemic and tall and lurch like giant insects, but most crouch low and wide and suggest driftwood, bones, weapons, fossils and animals, especially birds—with wings outstretched—crippled or alighting.
The Shape of Things Lance Esplund 2011
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Less randomness and a frantic desire to work in every possible totemic moment from the shows replaced by more focus and seriousness would make The Bardy Bunch a lot funnier.
Michael Giltz: Hero Plus Fringefest #3: Musicals Galore! Michael Giltz 2011
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But the stadium also remains a totemic symbol of the ongoing arguments over the legacy of the Games.
Olympic year is almost here – but are we ready for it? | Owen Gibson 2011
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By the 1970s whales had become the "totemic organisms of peaceniks, freaks, and ecoterrorists."
The Cetacean Century Jennie Erin Smith 2012
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Her name has acquired totemic meaning for politicians on the right who have cited her in speeches as a bogeyman, even though she has never and, she promises, will never run for office: "I'm just like, really, am I the scariest thing you can conjure?"
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