Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The spirit or the body of beliefs, customs, or practices of the Middle Ages.
  • noun Devotion to or acceptance of the ideas of the Middle Ages.
  • noun Scholarly study of the Middle Ages.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun That which is characteristic of the middle ages; the medieval spirit, practice, or methods in regard to anything; a peculiarity or characteristic of the middle ages.
  • noun Devotion to or adoption of the spirit or practice of the middle ages; medieval tendency in thought or action, as with respect to religion or politics.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The state of being medieval
  • noun uncountable The study of the Middle Ages
  • noun A custom or belief from the Middle Ages.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Actually, it seems to me that in medievalism (depictions of the medieval in the modern world), non-adulterous obstacles are more common.

    Literary Adultery Richard Nokes 2005

  • Actually, it seems to me that in medievalism (depictions of the medieval in the modern world), non-adulterous obstacles are more common.

    Archive 2005-07-01 Richard Nokes 2005

  • Wolf — bad pseudo-medievalism is one of my pet peeves, but that’s an entire other blog post.

    First Girl Ever at SF Novelists 2010

  • The dissenting crowd calls that "medievalism," but it is precisely what people need and want in this soul-deadening postmodern age.

    Sen. Ted Kennedy's right to a Catholic funeral 2009

  • Until the era of "medievalism," in which modern representations of the medieval came to be considered fair game for medieval scholars, Tolkien's fiction was not a proper subject for a medieval scholar to study -- not because he was producing fantasy, but because he clearly falls into the modern era.

    Defending the Tolkien Snobs Richard Nokes 2005

  • Until the era of "medievalism," in which modern representations of the medieval came to be considered fair game for medieval scholars, Tolkien's fiction was not a proper subject for a medieval scholar to study -- not because he was producing fantasy, but because he clearly falls into the modern era.

    Archive 2005-11-01 Richard Nokes 2005

  • Though, given the occasional medievalism of the Liturgical Movement, this too, is perhaps less unusual than I might think.

    St. Robert's, Shorewood, Wisconsin 2009

  • Yet in one area of our Scottish existence the nation still clings to medievalism in its approach.

    Stop prisoners from voting? That's criminal | Kevin McKenna 2011

  • The fetishistic medievalism—Breivik seems to have designed a military dress uniform, and wants to wear it to his trial—is significant: Like Osama bin Laden and his epigones, his worldview seems mainly defined by the politics of the 13th century.

    What Is Anders Breivik? Bret Stephens 2011

  • But while there is no prospect of a Saudi revolution in anyone's near future, there are encouraging signs that even there, a country that for decades has toiled under the crushing medievalism of Wahhabist religious orthodoxy, change is coming.

    An Arab Spring in Their Step Gerard Baker 2011

Comments

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  • Bones used this word when he was treating Chekov's head wound and complaining about 20th century medicine.

    June 7, 2012