supernaturalismn.
/ˌsuːpəˈnatʃ(ə)rəlɪz(ə)m/, /ˌsjuːpəˈnatʃ(ə)rəlɪz(ə)m/, /ˌsuːpəˈnatʃ(ə)rl̩ɪz(ə)m/, /ˌsjuːpəˈnatʃ(ə)rl̩ɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /ˈˌsupərˈnætʃ(ə)rəˌlɪzəm/ 1.
a. Supernatural character or quality; supernaturalness. Also occasionally: a supernatural realm or system.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > [noun] > quality of being
supernaturality1581
supernaturalness1657
supernaturalism1764
preternaturalism1834
the world > the supernatural > [noun] > supernatural agencies or means > system or collection of
supernaturalism1878
1764 Crit. Rev. June 441 The author of Caractacus, who has introduced supernaturalism into the play.
1799 W. Taylor in J. W. Robberds Mem. W. Taylor (1843) I. 285 Stripping the legend of all its supernaturalism.
1853 E. Miall Bases Belief iii. ii. 165 Supernaturalism was a necessary feature of his [sc. Jesus's] work.
1878 W. E. Gladstone Homer vi. 87 The really grand figures in this department of the Homeric supernaturalism are the Erinuës.
1917 D. Scarborough Supernatural in Mod. Eng. Fiction vii. 279 The drama can stand a good deal of supernaturalism of various kinds, from the visible ghosts and devils of the Elizabethans to the atmospheric supernaturalism of Maeterlinck.
1971 Robesonian (N. Carolina) 13 Aug. 9 The supernaturalism in the flick is somewhat subdued, however, compared with the first of the ‘Shadows’ film versions.
2005 Huntingdon Libr. Q. 68 641 His Creature, while perhaps woefully anti-natural, has its supernaturalism thoroughly naturalized.
b. In plural. Supernatural things or occurrences. Frequently mildly depreciative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > [noun] > supernatural thing(s)
supernaturals1605
supernaturality1665
wishtnessc1800
supernaturalisms1829
preternaturalism1858
1829 La Belle Assemblée Suppl. 304/2 This is an affair of the old school, full of dungeons, and mysteries, and supernaturalisms.
1860 R. F. Burton in Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 1859 29 346 Charms and spells, exorcisms and talismans..will be in demand, and wherever supernaturalisms are in requisition, men will be found for a consideration to supply them.
1921 L. P. Smith More Trivia 108 Occultisms, incantations, glimpses of the Beyond, intimations from another world—all kinds of supernaturalisms are distasteful to me.
1998 E. F. Bleiler & R. J. Bleiler Sci.-fiction Gernsback Years 234/2 A psychic investigator concerned with exposing fake supernaturalisms.
2. Belief in the supernatural; a theory or doctrine which allows or asserts the reality of the supernatural, esp. in the context of religion. Opposed to naturalism n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > [noun] > science or subject of
subterranean geography1624
non-natural1696
supernaturalism1796
supranaturalism1821
hypophysicsa1834
hyperphysics1855
preternaturalism1864
1796 Monthly Rev. 21 App. 509 She [sc. philosophy] takes refuge in some form of supernaturalism.
1836 C. F. Partington Brit. Cycl. Lit., Hist., Geogr., Law, & Politics III. 857/1 Supernaturalism considers the Christian religion as an extraordinary phenomenon, out of the circle of natural events, and as communicating truths above the comprehension of human reason.
1886 Encycl. Brit. XX. 289/1 Rationalism had as its antitheses..supernaturalism, and..naturalism.
1933 Primitive Man 6 79 The four broad phases of supernaturalism,—theistic, animistic, manistic, and magical.
1971 G. Urang Shadows of Heaven iv. 154 Traditional supernaturalism, with its tendency to demean the natural and the merely human so as to exalt the divine holiness.
1992–3 Free Inq. Winter 39/1 An atavistic reversion to the most deplorable sort of fundamentalist supernaturalism.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1764