existentialism

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree French existentiel Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ῐσμός (-ĭsmós)der. Latin -ismusbor. French -isme French existentialismebor. English existentialism Borrowed from French existentialisme.

1. A 20th-century philosophical movement emphasizing the uniqueness of each human existence in freely making its self-defining choices.

   “The heyday of existentialism occurred in the mid-twentieth century.”

2. The philosophical views of a particular thinker associated with the existentialist movement.

   “Sartre's existentialism is atheistic, but the existentialism of Marcel is distinctly Christian.”

   “Instead of Existentialism, we should speak of Existentialisms.”