Pronounced: rih-FECK-shun, noun
Notes: This is not a misspelling of “reflection”, but a different word entirely
Yesterday’s word
The word totem is
- an animal or plant serving as the emblem of a family or clan
- a revered emblem or symbol; a person or thing that represents an idea
First usage
Our word came into English in
Background / Comments
I thought our word was just short for a “totem pole”, but clearly that isn’t the case. After reading the definition, it is clear that a totem pole is merely a pole containing totems. As most people associate totem poles with American Indians, you might think that the word comes from there — and you’d be correct. Our word comes from Ojibwa, a language of the Algonquian people who lived in the regions around Lake Superior. The root Ojibwa word is ote (to dwell in), but most English speakers heard the word ototeman (his totem) or nintotem (my totem). These words became totem.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 