# fascism

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈfæʃɪz(ə)m/ · frequency rank #13,342

## Definitions
1. Any right-wing, authoritarian, nationalist ideology characterized by centralized, totalitarian governance, strong regimentation of the economy and society, and repression of criticism or opposition.
2. Any right-wing, authoritarian, nationalist ideology characterized by centralized, totalitarian governance, strong regimentation of the economy and society, and repression of criticism or opposition.
3. Any system of strong autocracy or oligarchy usually to the extent of bending and breaking the law, race-baiting, and/or violence against largely unarmed populations.
4. Any extreme reliance on or enforcement of rules and regulations.

## Etymology
From Italian fascismo, from fascio (“fasces, bundle, group”) + -ismo (“-ism”) with direct reference to Benito Mussolini's fasci di combattimento ("fight clubs"), from Latin fasces, bundles of axes and rods carried before the magistrates of the ancient Roman Republic as representative of their power of life and death. Originally with exclusive reference to Fascist Italy which used the fasces as an emblem, later broadened to describe all of the Axis Powers of World War II, and subsequently used as a general term of opprobrium in English and international political discourse.
Etymology tree
Latin fascis
Italian fascio
Proto-Indo-European *-id-
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti
Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō
Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)
Proto-Indo-European *-mos
Proto-Indo-European *-mós
Ancient Greek -μός (-mós)
Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der.
Latin -ismus
Italian -ismo
Italian fascismolbor.
English fascism

## Easily confused with
- **fascist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fascism-vs-fascist)
- **fascia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fascia-vs-fascism)

## Common misspellings (11)
`afscism`, `facsism`, `fasccism`, `fascims`, `fascismm`, `fascissm`, `fascsim`, `fasicsm`, `fasscism`, `ffascism`, `fsacism`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/fascism