Definition of: spiritualism

(spir′i·ch·əl·iz′əm) noun
1. The belief that the spirits of the dead in various ways communicate with and manifest their presence to the living, usually through the agency of a person called a medium; also, the doctrines and practices of those so believing.
2. The doctrine that there are beings not cognizable by the senses or characterized by the properties of matter, and that are therefore spiritual, as distinguished from material: opposed to materialism.
3. The doctrine that man is an immortal spirit and as such may know, love, or worship God.
4. A non–materialistic philosophy, a form of idealism which identifies ultimate reality as one universal conscious mind.
5. The state or character of being spiritual.
—spir′i·tu·al·ist noun
—spir′i·tu·al·is′tic adjective