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History vocabulary · Revolutions and Political Change

Iconoclasm

Meaning in history, with examples

nounCommon term

In history, iconoclasm means: The rejection or destruction of religious images because their use is considered unacceptable.

In Turkish: ikonoklazm, dini tasvir kırıcılığı

How it is used

Specify the movement and objects involved; damaged art alone does not prove iconoclasm.

Example sentences

  1. The visitation report linked the removal of altar images to iconoclasm.

    The motive concerns religious images rather than ordinary wear.

  2. Her study distinguishes iconoclasm from damage caused by later building work.

    Similar physical damage can result from different historical causes.

Common collocations

  • religious iconoclasm
  • a wave of iconoclasm
  • ReformationThe sixteenth-century religious movement in Western Europe that challenged the authority and practices of the Catholic Church and led to the founding of Protestant churches.
  • Byzantine EmpireThe eastern part of the Roman Empire, with its capital at Constantinople, which survived the fall of the western half and lasted until the Ottoman conquest of 1453.

More terms: Revolutions and Political Change

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