religious system founded by Lao Tzu (b. 604 B.C.E.), 1838, from Chinese tao "way, path, right way (of life), reason" + -ism.
Entries linking to taoism
tao n.
1736, from Chinese tao "way, path, right way (of life), reason."
-ism
word-forming element making nouns implying a practice, system, doctrine, etc., from French -isme or directly from Latin -isma, -ismus (source also of Italian, Spanish -ismo, Dutch, German -ismus), from Greek -ismos, noun ending signifying the practice or teaching of a thing, from the stem of verbs in -izein, a verb-forming element denoting the doing of the noun or adjective to which it is attached. For distinction of use, see -ity. The related Greek suffix -isma(t)- affects some forms.