egoism

See also: egoïsm

English

Alternative forms

• egoïsm (rare)
• egomism (obsolete)

Etymology

From French égoïsme, from New Latin egoismus, from Latin ego. By surface analysis, ego +‎ -ism.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈi.ɡoʊˌɪ.zəm/

• Audio (Mid-Atlantic US):

  (file)

Noun

egoism (countable and uncountable, plural egoisms)

1. The tendency to think selfishly with exclusive self-interest in mind.

   Synonyms: egocentricity, selfishness, solipsism; see also Thesaurus:selfishness

   Antonym: altruism

   • 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume I: The Founders, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: powstanie (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 151:

     Since all men are by nature egoists and morality can only be rationalized egoism, the problem is to devise a form of social organization that will reconcile the selfish interests of each with the needs of all.

2. (ethics) The belief that moral behavior should be directed toward one's self-interest only.
3. (nonstandard, by confusion of the similar words) Egotism (tendency to talk excessively about oneself).

Derived terms

• ethical egoism
• panegoism
• rational egoism

Related terms

• egoist
• egoistic
• egoistical

Translations

tendency to think of self

• Arabic: أَنَانِيَّة f (ʔanāniyya)
• Belarusian: эгаі́зм m (ehaízm)
• Bulgarian: егоизъм (bg) m (egoizăm)
• Catalan: egoisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 自我主義 / 自我主义 (zh) (zìwǒzhǔyì), 利己主義 / 利己主义 (zh) (lìjǐzhǔyì), 唯我主義 / 唯我主义 (zh) (wéiwǒzhǔyì)

• Czech: sobectví n, egoismus m
• Danish: egoism (da) c
• Dutch: egoïsme (nl) n, zelfzucht (nl) f or m
• Esperanto: egoismo (eo)
• Finnish: itsekkyys (fi), egoismi (fi)
• French: égoïsme (fr) m
• Georgian: ეგოიზმი (egoizmi), ანგარება (angareba), მეთავისეობა (metaviseoba)
• German: Egoismus (de) m
• Greek: εγωισμός (el) m (egoïsmós), φιλαυτία (el) f (filaftía)
• Hindi: अहंकार (hi) m (ahaṅkār), अभिमान (hi) m (abhimān), घमंड (hi) m (ghamaṇḍ)
• Icelandic: egóismi m
• Ido: egoismo (io)
• Indonesian: egoisme (id)
• Japanese: 利己主義 (ja) (りこしゅぎ, rikoshugi)
• Kazakh: өзімшілдік (özimšildik)
• Latin: amor sui m
• Malayalam: അഹംഭാവം (ml) (ahambhāvaṁ)
• Persian: خودخواهی (fa)
• Polish: egoizm (pl) m, samolubność (pl) f, samolubstwo (pl) pl
• Portuguese: egoísmo (pt) m
• Russian: эгои́зм (ru) m (egoízm)
• Serbo-Croatian: samoljublje (sh) n, egoizam (sh) m
• Spanish: egoísmo (es) m
• Swedish: egoism (sv) c
• Thai: อัตนิยม (àt-dtà-ní-yom), อัตตานิยม (àt-dtaa-ní-yom), อัตตัตถนิยม (àt-dtàt-tà-nì-yom)
• Turkish: egoizm (tr) sg
• Ukrainian: егої́зм m (ehojízm)

See also

• ethnocentrism
• misanthropy (hatred of human race)
• narcissism

Anagrams

• gomesi

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French égoïsme. By surface analysis, ego- + -ism.

Noun

egoism n (uncountable)

1. egoism, selfishness

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	egoism	egoismul
genitive-dative	egoism	egoismului
vocative	egoismule

Swedish

Noun

egoism c (uncountable)

1. egoism; the tendency to think of self and self-interest.
2. (ethics) egoism; the belief that moral behavior should be directed toward one's self-interest.

Declension

Declension of egoism

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	egoism	egoisms
	definite	egoismen	egoismens
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Related terms

• egoistisk

References

• “egoism”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “egoism”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “egoism”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)