incendiarism

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English incendiary

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *-mós

Ancient Greek -μός (-mós)

Ancient Greek -ῐσμός (-ĭsmós)der.

English -ism

English incendiarism

From incendiary + -ism.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈsɛndɪəɹɪzm/

Noun

incendiarism (countable and uncountable, plural incendiarisms)

1. The act or practice of burning property; arson.
   • 1933, Public Management, volume 15, page 263:

     Incendiarism is a major fire problem in many cities; Mr. Fairtrace here recommends needed changes in insurance and fire protection methods.

   • 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 110:

     In the surrounding black slums incendiarism shoots up in the summer, an index, soem say, of psychopathology. Although the love of flames it's also religious.

2. (figuratively) Inflammatory or provocative action; instigation.
   • 2012, Piers Brendon, ‘Beginning the Dissent’, Literary Review, volume 401:

     But the charge sheet is not just a recapitulation of instances of imperial incendiarism, such as the Amritsar massacre or the bombings of Iraqi villages.