socialism
so·cial·ism/ˈsoʊʃəlɪzəm/noun
socialism is spelled S-O-C-I-A-L-I-S-M, 3 syllables: so·cial·ism. The wrong spelling people search most is socalism: about 70 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 143 of all searches for the word. Socialism is a noun meaning “Any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and…”. The plural of socialism is socialisms.
How many letters and syllables are in socialism?
| Letters | 9: S-O-C-I-A-L-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: so·cial·ism |
| In writing | 7.6 times per million words; the 8,542nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, socalism, about 70 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell socialism?
Socialism is spelled S-O-C-I-A-L-I-S-M. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 143 of the searches for socialism in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is socialism?
Socialism appears 7.6 times per million words in written English, the 8,542nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce socialism?
- US /ˈsoʊʃəlɪzəm/
- UK /ˈsəʊʃəlɪzəm/
Socialism has 3 syllables, split so·cial·ism in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-socialism.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of socialism
- socialisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does socialism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.
- 2
A system of social and economic equality in which there is no private property.
- 3
A system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state.
- 4
The intermediate phase of social development between capitalism and communism in Marxist theory in which the state has control of the means of production.
- 5
Any of a group of later political philosophies, such as democratic socialism and social democracy, which do not envisage the need for full state ownership of the means of production nor transition to full communism, and which are typically based on principles of community decision making, social equality and the avoidance of economic and social exclusion, with economic policy giving first preferen
- 6
UScolloquialderogatoryAny left-wing ideology, government regulations, or policies promoting a welfare state, nationalisation, etc.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Socialism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense political philosophy of social and economic equality:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | socialisme |
| German | Sozialismus |
| Portuguese | socialismo |
| Spanish | socialismo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does socialism come from?
Attested since 1832; either from French socialisme or from social + -ism.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).