what type of word is an ism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. -ism is a suffix in many English words, first usage, originally derived from Ancient Greek -Î¹ÏÎ¼ÏÏ (-ismos), reaching English through Latin, via French.he first recorded usage of the suffix ism as a separate word in its own right was in 1680. By the nineteenth century it was being used by Thomas Carlyle to signify a pre-packaged ideology.