E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
So’cialism (3 syl.).
The political and social scheme of Robert Owen, of Montgomeryshire, who in 1816 published a work to show that society was in a wretched condition, and all its institutions and religious systems were based on wrong principles. The prevailing system is competition, but Owen maintained that the proper principle is co-operation; he therefore advocated a community of property and the abolition of degrees of rank. (1771–1858.)
1
The Socialists are called also Owenites (3 syl.). In France the Fourierists and St. Simonians are similar sorts of communists, who receive their designations from Fourier and St. Simon (q.v.).
