pro-vitalism
|pro-vit-al-ism|
🇺🇸
/proʊˈvaɪtəlɪzəm/
🇬🇧
/prəʊˈvaɪtəlɪzəm/
support of vitalism
Etymology
'pro-vitalism' originates from Latin elements: the prefix 'pro-' (Latin) meaning 'for' and the root 'vitalis' (Latin) meaning 'of life', with 'vitalis' giving rise to French 'vitalisme' and English 'vitalism'.
'vitalis' (Latin) produced French 'vitalisme', which entered English as 'vitalism' in the 18th/19th century; the prefix 'pro-' was later attached in modern English to form the compound 'pro-vitalism' meaning 'for vitalism'.
Initially the components referred simply to 'for' + 'life/relating to life'; over time the compound came to mean specifically 'support for the doctrine that life involves a non-physical vital principle'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
support or advocacy of vitalism — the doctrine that living organisms are governed by a special vital principle or life force not reducible to purely physical or chemical processes.
She argued for pro-vitalism in debates about the nature of life and the limits of biochemical explanation.
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Last updated: 2025/11/27 23:52