Hypertext Webster Gateway: "totem"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Totem \To"tem\, n. [Massachusetts Indian wutohtimoin that to
which a person or place belongs.]
A rude picture, as of a bird, beast, or the like, used by the
North American Indians as a symbolic designation, as of a
family or a clan.
And they painted on the grave posts Of the graves, yet
unforgotten, Each his own ancestral totem Each the
symbol of his household; Figures of the bear and
reindeer, Of the turtle, crane, and beaver.
--Longfellow.
The totem,the clan deity, the beast or bird who in some
supernatural way attends to the clan and watches over
it. --Bagehot.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
totem
n 1: a clan identified by their kinship to a common totemic
object
2: emblem consisting of an object such as an animal or plant;
serves as the symbol of a family or clan (especially among
American Indians)
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.