-holism

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See also holism

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[edit] English

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[edit] Etymology

In contemporary modern English "-holism" is a suffix that can be added to a subject to denote an addiction to it. The suffix was extracted from alcoholism, one of the first addictions to be widely identified both medically and socially.

It should be noted that the word alcoholism is broken up into the root, "alcohol", and the suffix "-ism", not "alco" and "-holism". Moreover, the morphemic breakdown of the word "alcohol" is from Arabic al meaning "the" and kuhul meaning "paint". The suffix "-holism" is thus a result of false splitting similar to the interpretation of "helicopter" as "heli-copter" rather than the etymologically correct "helico-pter", giving rise to such derived words as "heliport" and "jetcopter"[1].

In fact, there are correct medico-legal terms for such addictions. Dipsomania is the medico-legal term for alcoholism[2]; other examples are given in the following table.

Colloquial term Addiction to Medico-legal term
danceaholic dance choreomania
workaholic work ergomania
sexaholic sex erotomania, satyromania, nymphomania
sugarholic sugar saccharomania
chocoholic chocolate

The term "-holism" is not an accepted medical term, but is a fairly prominent neologism. As such, despite its widespread usage, it lacks a formal definition. The term can be used in many ways ranging from describing a physical or psychological dependency to something (ex. sexaholism[3][4]), to a tendency to do something obsessively (ex. workaholism[5], shopaholism[6]).

[edit] Suffix

-holism

  1. a form of addiction

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Related terms

[edit] References

  • Notes:
  1. ^ jetcopter
  2. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary : alcohol
  3. ^ Sexaholism: The Closet Addiction (article) by Niki Collins-Queen on AuthorsDen:January 29, 2005
  4. ^ Sexaholism: A Perspective - Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention:(Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, Volume 13, Issue 1 January 2006, pages 69 - 94)
  5. ^ [1](blank page?)
  6. ^ Culture Shock:Shopaholism (by Prachi Thanawala)
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