panpsychism

/pænˈsaɪˌkɪzəm/

//pænˈsaɪˌkɪzəm// noun

"panpsychism" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“panpsychism” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The belief that all matter is conscious in some form.

Corpus desk

Index EN-panpsychism · panpsychism · English

panpsychism · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for panpsychism
PropertyValue
Headwordpanpsychism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pænˈsaɪˌkɪzəm/
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “panpsychism” in English

panpsychismfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

panpsychism is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /pænˈsaɪˌkɪzəm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for panpsychism in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From pan- + psychism, a calque of German Panpsychismus (1874), from New Latin pampsychia coined by Francisco Patrizi in his 1591 Nova de Universis Philosophia, from Ancient Greek πᾰν- (păn-, “all”) + ψυχή (psukhḗ, “mind, life force, soul”) + -ία (-ía, “-ia:… The correct English form is panpsychism, spelled P-A-N-P-S-Y-C-H-I-S-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    The belief that all matter is conscious in some form.
  2. 2
    Synonym of panexperientialism, the particular form of panpsychism that holds experience but not cognition as universal.
  3. 3
    A particular form of panpsychism.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how panpsychism appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. In very general terms, the thesis of panpsychism is that throughout nature there is mentality, that the mentality of which each of us is aware in our own thoughts and experiences is present in various forms in a wide range of natural bodies... Those that have minds (souls) are those whom we describe as seeing, hearing, feeling, and believing.
  2. For such thinkers there is no reason to limit mind to humans and (perhaps) higher animals; in fact, they have reasons—both intuitive and rational—to claim that mind is best conceived as a general phenomenon of nature. As such, mind would exist, in some form, in all things. This concept is called panpsychism... As a meta-theory, it simply holds that, howev…

Etymology

From pan- + psychism, a calque of German Panpsychismus (1874), from New Latin pampsychia coined by Francisco Patrizi in his 1591 Nova de Universis Philosophia, from Ancient Greek πᾰν- (păn-, “all”) + ψυχή (psukhḗ, “mind, life force, soul”) + -ία (-ía, “-ia: forming abstract nouns”). Cognate with Ancient Greek πάμψυχος (pámpsukhos, “in full life”) and Modern Greek παμψυχισμός (pampsychismós, “panpsychism”).

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "panpsychism"?
"panpsychism" is spelled P-A-N-P-S-Y-C-H-I-S-M. The IPA pronunciation is /pænˈsaɪˌkɪzəm/.
What does "panpsychism" mean?
As a noun, "panpsychism" means: The belief that all matter is conscious in some form.
How do you pronounce "panpsychism"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "panpsychism" is /pænˈsaɪˌkɪzəm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "panpsychism"?
From pan- + psychism, a calque of German Panpsychismus (1874), from New Latin pampsychia coined by Francisco Patrizi in his 1591 Nova de Universis Philosophia, from Ancient Greek πᾰν- (păn-, “all”) + ψυχή (psukhḗ, “mind, life force, soul”) + -ία (... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list