Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Totem
To′tem
,Noun.
[Massachusetts Indian
wutohtimoin
that to which a person or place belongs.] 1.
A rude picture, as of a bird, beast, or the like, used by the North American Indians as a symbolic designation, as of a family or a clan; also, the object or animal itself, considered as an symbol of the family.
And they painted on the grave posts
Of the graves, yet unforgotten,
Each his own ancestral
Each the symbol of his household;
Figures of the bear and reindeer,
Of the turtle, crane, and beaver.
Of the graves, yet unforgotten,
Each his own ancestral
totem
Each the symbol of his household;
Figures of the bear and reindeer,
Of the turtle, crane, and beaver.
Longfellow.
The
totem
, the clan deity, the beast or bird who in some supernatural way attends to the clan and watches over it. Bagehot.
Definition 2024
tótem
tótem
Spanish
Noun
tótem m (plural tótems)
Derived terms
References
- “tótem” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima segunda edición, Real Academia Española, 2001.