nihilism

See also: Nihilism

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] German Nihilismus, itself from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin nihil (“nil, nothing”) + German -ismus (“-ism”), coined in 1817 by German philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, but repeatedly 'reinvented'.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪ(h)ɨ̞lɪz(ə)m/, /ˈnɪhɨ̞lɪz(ə)m/, /ˈniː(h)ɨ̞lɪz(ə)m/
• IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪəˌlɪz(ə)m/, /ˈni.əˌlɪz(ə)m/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

nihilism (countable and uncountable, plural nihilisms)

1. (philosophy) A philosophical doctrine grounded on the negation of one or more meaningful aspects of life.
2. (ethics) The rejection of inherent or objective moral principles.
3. (politics) The rejection of non-rationalized or non-proven assertions in the social and political spheres of society.
4. (politics, historical) A Russian movement of the 1860s that rejected all authority and promoted the use of violence for political change.
5. The understanding that all endeavors are devoid of objective meaning.
   • 1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter II, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale, London: Methuen & Co., […], published 1907, →OCLC; The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright edition, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1907, →OCLC, page 15:

     But there was also about him an indescribable air which no mechanic could have acquired in the practice of his handicraft however dishonestly exercised: [...] the air of moral nihilism common to keepers of gambling hells and disorderly houses; [...]

   • "...the band members sweat hard enough to earn their pretensions, and maybe even their nihilism" (rock critic Dave Marsh, reviewing the band XTC's album Go)

   Synonym: fatalism

6. The refusal of belief, that belief itself is untenable.

Derived terms

• nihilist
• nihilistic

Related terms

• annihilate
• nihility
• nil

Translations

negation of one or more aspects of life; extreme philosophical scepticism

• Afrikaans: nihilisme
• Albanian: nihilizmi m
• Arabic: عَدَمِيَّة (ʕadamiyya)

  Egyptian Arabic: عدميه, النيهيليه

• Armenian: նիհիլիզմ (hy) (nihilizm)
• Asturian: nihilismu m
• Azerbaijani: nihilizm
• Basque: nihilismo
• Belarusian: нігілізм m (nihilizm)
• Bulgarian: нихилизъм (bg) m (nihilizǎm)
• Catalan: nihilisme m
• Cebuano: magtagad sa panghunahuna
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 虛無主義／虚无主义 (zh) (xūwú zhǔyì), 虚无主义 (zh) (xūwúzhǔyì)

  Min Nan: 虛無主義／虚无主义 (hi-bû-chú-gī)

• Czech: nihilismus m
• Danish: nihilisme (da) c
• Dutch: nihilisme (nl) n
• Esperanto: neniismo, nihilismo (eo)
• Estonian: nihilism (et)
• Finnish: nihilismi (fi)
• French: nihilisme (fr) m
• Galician: nihilismo m
• Georgian: ნიჰილიზმი (ka) (nihilizmi)
• German: Nihilismus (de) m
• Greek: μηδενισμός (el) m (midenismós)
• Gujarati: શૂન્યવાદ (sūnyavāda)
• Haitian Creole: niilism
• Hebrew: ניהיליזם (he) m (nihilizem), אַפְסָנוּת (afesanut)
• Hindi: निषेधवाद (niṣedhvād), नाइलीज़्म (nāilīzma), विनाशवाद (vināśvād)
• Hungarian: nihilizmus (hu)
• Icelandic: tómhyggja f, níhílismi m
• Ido: nihilismo
• Indonesian: nihilisme (id)
• Irish: nihileachas m
• Italian: nichilismo (it) m
• Jamaican Creole: niyilizim
• Japanese: ニヒリズム (nihirizumu), 虚無主義 (きょむしゅぎ, kyomushugi)
• Kannada: ನಿರಾಕರಣವಾದ (kn) (nirākaraṇavāda)
• Kazakh: нигилизм (nigilizm)
• Korean: 허무주의 (ko) (heomujuui)
• Kurdish: , , , ,
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kyrgyz: нигилизм (nigilizm)
• Latin: nihilismus m
• Latvian: nihilisms m
• Lithuanian: nihilizmas m
• Low German:

  Dutch Low Saxon: nihilisme n

• Macedonian: нихилизам m (nihilizam)
• Malay: nihilisme
• Malayalam: നിഹിലിസം (nihilisaṁ)
• Mingrelian: ნიჰილიზმი (nihilizmi)
• Moroccan Amazigh: ⵜⴰⵥⵕⵡⴰⵍⵓⵜ f (Taẓṛwalut)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nihilisme m

  Nynorsk: nihilisme m

• Occitan: niilisme m
• Persian: نیهیلیسم (fa)
• Polish: nihilizm (pl) m
• Portuguese: niilismo (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਨਹਿਲਵਾਦ (nahilavāda)
• Romanian: nihilism (ro) m
• Russian: нигили́зм (ru) m (nigilízm)
• Rusyn: нігілізм m (nihilizm)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: нихилѝзам m

  Roman: nihilìzam (sh) m

• Slovak: nihilizmus m
• Slovene: nihilizem m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: nihilismus m

  Upper Sorbian: nihilizm m

• Spanish: nihilismo (es) m
• Swedish: nihilism (sv) c
• Tagalog: nihilismo
• Tamil: இல்லாமை தத்துவம் (illāmai tattuvam), நீலிசம் (nīlicam)
• Thai: สุญนิยม (sŭn-ní-yom)
• Turkish: nihilizm (tr), hiççilik (tr), yokçuluk (tr)
• Ukrainian: нігілізм (uk) m (nihilizm)
• Uzbek:

  Cyrillic: нигилизм (uz) (nigilizm)

  Roman: nigilizm (uz)

• Vietnamese: chủ nghĩa hư vô, tư tưởng đoạn diệt
• Welsh: nihiliaeth f
• Yiddish: ניהיליזם m (nihilizm)
• Zazaki: nihilizm

rejection of all moral principles

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 虛無主義／虚无主义 (zh) (xūwú zhǔyì), 虚无主义 (zh) (xūwúzhǔyì)

• Czech: nihilizmus m
• Danish: nihilisme (da) c
• Dutch: (ethisch) nihilisme n
• Finnish: nihilismi (fi)
• French: nihilisme (fr) m
• German: Nihilismus (de) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: μηδενισμός (el) m (midenismós)
• Italian: nichilismo (it) m
• Lower Sorbian: nihilismus m
• Moroccan Amazigh: ⵜⴰⵥⵕⵡⴰⵍⵓⵜ f (Taẓṛwalut)
• Polish: nihilizm (pl) m
• Portuguese: niilismo (pt) m
• Russian: нигили́зм (ru) m (nigilízm)
• Serbo-Croatian: nihilizam (sh) m

politics: rejection of non-proven assertions

• Moroccan Amazigh: ⵜⴰⵥⵕⵡⴰⵍⵓⵜ f (Taẓṛwalut)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Russian anarchistic doctrine

• Dutch: Nihilisme n
• French: nihilisme (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Moroccan Amazigh: ⵜⴰⵥⵕⵡⴰⵍⵓⵜ f (Taẓṛwalut)
• Russian: нигили́зм (ru) m (nigilízm)

belief that all endeavors are futile

• Moroccan Amazigh: ⵜⴰⵥⵕⵡⴰⵍⵓⵜ f (Taẓṛwalut)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

contradiction between behavior and principle

• Moroccan Amazigh: ⵜⴰⵥⵕⵡⴰⵍⵓⵜ f (Taẓṛwalut)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

deliberate refusal of belief

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} ניהיליזם (he) (nihilizem)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Further reading

• “nihilism”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “nihilism”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.