# spiritualism

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈspɪɹɪtjuəlɪzəm/ · frequency rank #48,503

## Definitions
1. A doctrine, opposing materialism, that claims transcendency of the divine being, the altogether spiritual character of reality and the value of inwardness of consciousness.
2. A belief that the dead communicate with the living, especially through a medium. Used in a broader sense than spiritism.
3. The quality or state of being spiritual.

## Etymology
From spiritual + -ism. In Allan Kardec's book The Spirits Book (1857) (Le Livre des Esprits in the original French), in which a distinction between spiritism and spiritualism is defined.

## Easily confused with
- **spirituality** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spiritualism-vs-spirituality)

## Common misspellings (18)
`psiritualism`, `sipritualism`, `spiirtualism`, `spiritaulism`, `spirittualism`, `spirituailsm`, `spiritualims`, `spiritualismm`, `spiritualissm`, `spirituallism`, `spiritualsim`, `spiritulaism`, `spiriutalism`, `spirritualism`, `spirtiualism`, `sppiritualism`, `spriitualism`, `sspiritualism`

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