Presentism
from Word of the Day Hosted by Word of the Day
Presentism is an attitude toward the past dominated by present-day beliefs. A recent addition to the English language, presentism emerged in the late 20th century to describe a tendency to view the past through the lens of current conventions. It combines the word ‘present,’ a word of Middle English origin with the suffix I-S-M, which denotes a distinctive practice or philosophy. Here’s an example of presentism in use:- All the presentism in history class made it difficult to truly understand things from the point of view of ancient civilizations. I wish we could have just ditched our current way of viewing things.
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