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Definition of particularism - 3 dictionary results

par⋅tic⋅u⋅lar⋅ism

  [per-tik-yuh-luh-riz-uhm, puh-tik-]
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–noun
1. exclusive attention or devotion to one's own particular interests, party, etc.
2. the principle of leaving each state of a federation free to retain its laws and promote its interests.
3. Theology. the doctrine that divine grace is provided only for the elect.
Origin:
1815–25; < F particularisme. See particular, -ism

Related forms:
par⋅tic⋅u⋅lar⋅ist, noun
par⋅tic⋅u⋅lar⋅is⋅tic, adjective
par⋅tic⋅u⋅lar⋅is⋅ti⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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par·tic·u·lar·ism   (pər-tĭk'yə-lə-rĭz'əm, pə-tĭk-)   
n.  

  1. Exclusive adherence to, dedication to, or interest in one's own group, party, sect, or nation.

  2. A principle of allowing each state in a nation or federation to act independently of the central authority, especially in promoting its own economic interests.

par·tic'u·lar·ist n., par·tic'u·lar·is'tic adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

particularism

school of anthropological thought associated with the work of Franz Boas and his students (among them A.L. Kroeber, Ruth Benedict, and Margaret Mead), whose studies of culture emphasized the integrated and distinctive way of life of a given people. Particularism stood in opposition to theories such as cultural evolution, Kulturkreis, and geographical or environmental determinism, all of which sought to discover for the social sciences a series of general laws analogous to those in the physical sciences (such as the laws of thermodynamics or gravity).

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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