Did you know?
Totem Has Roots in an Algonquian Language
Totem comes to us from Ojibwa, an Algonquian language spoken by an American Indian people from the regions around Lake Superior. The most basic form of the word in Ojibwa is believed to be ote, but 18th-century English speakers encountered it as ototeman (meaning "his totem"), which became our word totem. In its most specific sense, totem refers to an emblematic depiction of an animal or plant that gives a family or clan its name and that often serves as a reminder of its ancestry. The term is also used broadly for any person or thing having particular emblematic or symbolic importance. The related adjective totemic describes something that serves as a totem, that depicts totems ("totemic basketry," for example), or that has the nature of a totem.
Synonyms
Examples of totem in a Sentence
Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 3 Feb. 2025
But far from being just another totem for Scandi style, the Tripp Trapp is a true icon of versatility.
—Parker Hall, WIRED, 2 Feb. 2025
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, those totems of Democratic impotence, entered together and acted as if they’d been instructed never to shoot each other so much as a passing glance.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
The dunes eventually kneeled to the Atlantic, stretching out as a broad, empty beach pierced with totems of petrified tree trunks.
—Michael Snyder, Travel + Leisure, 15 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for totem 
Articles Related to totem
Dictionary Entries Near totem
Cite this Entry
“Totem.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/totem. Accessed 23 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
totem
noun
Share