A belief system or ideology associated with Aryanism, a controversial concept historically used to describe racial or cultural superiority.
From 'Aryan' + '-ism' (doctrine), where Aryan originally referred to Indo-European peoples but was later misappropriated in racist pseudoscience.
The term 'Aryanism' shows how legitimate historical linguistics got twisted into dangerous pseudoscience—19th-century scholars correctly identified an ancient Indo-European language family, but this was perverted into racial theories with catastrophic consequences.
Aryanism as racial pseudoscience (19th-20th century) erased non-European women and reframed Indo-European origin myths to assert male-dominated hierarchies. Nazi ideology weaponized Aryan mythology to exclude women from leadership and rationalize genocide.
Use with historical precision: specify 'Aryan racial theory' or 'Indo-European ancestry' depending on context, and acknowledge how such theories erased women's intellectual and cultural contributions.
["Indo-European ancestry","Aryan racial theory (historical/discredited)","proto-Indo-European studies"]
Female scholars like Marija Gimbutas and Mary Boyce advanced genuine Indo-European linguistic and cultural research, countering pseudoscientific Aryan mythmaking that dismissed women's agency in ancient societies.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.