'Totem' is a word borrowed from Amerindian 'totem'. The word entered the English language some time around 1776.
totem [noun] [circa 1776]
- an object (as an animal or plant) serving as the emblem of a family or clan and often as a reminder of its ancestry
- a usually carved or painted representation of such an object
- a family or clan identified by a common object
- one that serves as an emblem or revered symbol
See 'totem' on the Loan Words Map
See more loan words from Amerindian.
Etymology: Ojibwa 'oto·te·man' his totem
See more loan words from 1700s.
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