Messianismn.
/mᵻˈsʌɪənɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /məˈsaɪəˌnɪz(ə)m/ 1. Belief in the coming of the Messiah.
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society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > Biblical personages > Old Testament > [noun] > belief in a Messiah
Messianism1867
1867 De Bow's Rev. Apr. 342 We have been invited to accept the Messianism of Hoëne Wrouski [sic], according to which each man was to construct his own Paraclete for himself.
1877 W. Alexander Witness Psalms to Christ & Christianity i. iv. 23 Messianism becomes at once the central scheme.
1904 Contemp. Rev. Aug. 198 Jesus Christ gets behind the formal Messianism of his time.
1976 M. J. Lasky Utopia & Revol. (1977) ii. 61 Judeo-Christian messianism was more deeply interfused in the dream of the social revolution than the new prophets were prepared to concede.
2. Originally (of the people of a country): the belief that one's nation is to serve a redemptive role in the history of humankind. Later also (of a person): fervent belief in one's own superiority or exceptional nature.
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c1920 W. Lutoslawski (title) Polish messianism.
1931 Quest Apr. 4/2 One sees this minority attitude all the way from the Suffering Servant of Isaiah to the Messianism of the Poles of a century ago.
1934 Pacific Affairs 7 381 This Japanese messianism seems in one respect quite different from the European... The general creed is one of optimism, with the people firm in their belief that they have been chosen for special glory from among all the peoples of the world.
1967 Listener 2 Feb. 171/1 Power and Impotence is a skilful and devastating attack on the manifestations of messianism in American foreign policy.
1991 R. Bergan Dustin Hoffman xix. 134 Hoffman is still too nice, cool, and lucid, with little of the madness and meanness that were mixed in with the messianism.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1867