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iconoclasm (n.)

1797 in reference to an act of breaking or destroying idols physically; figuratively from 1858 in reference to beliefs, cherished institutions, etc.; see iconoclast. An older word for it was iconomachy (1580s), from Greek eikonomakhia (see -machy).

Entries related to iconoclasm

iconoclast (n.)
"breaker or destroyer of images," 1590s, from French iconoclaste and directly from Medieval Latin iconoclastes, from Late Greek eikonoklastes, from eikon (genitive eikonos) "image" + klastes "breaker," from klas- past tense stem of klan "to break" (see clastic).

Originally in reference to those in the Eastern Church in 8c. and 9c. whose mobs of followers destroyed icons and other religious objects on the grounds that they were idols. Applied to 16c.-17c. Protestants in Netherlands who vandalized former Catholic churches on similar grounds. Extended sense of "one who attacks orthodox beliefs or cherished institutions" is first attested 1842.
-machy 

word-forming element meaning "battle, war, contest, fighting, warfare," from Latinized form of Greek -makhia, from makhe "a battle, fight," related to makhesthai "to fight." Beekes suspects it is from an isolated root, perhaps Pre-Greek: "In the domain of fighting and battle, old inherited expressions can hardly be expected."

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Definitions of iconoclasm from WordNet

iconoclasm (n.)
the orientation of an iconoclast;
From wordnet.princeton.edu

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