[Formed as prec. + -ISM, prob. after F. zoomorphisme.]
1. Attribution of animal form or nature to a deity or superhuman being. (Cf. ANTHROPOMORPHISM.)
1840. Smart, Zoomorphism, (belief of a transformation into beasts).
1882. Mivart, Nat. & Th., 205. Zoomorphism is much more absurd than Anthropomorphism.
2. Imitation or representation of animal forms in decorative art or symbolism.
1879. Jos. Anderson, Scot. Early Chr. T. (1881), 206. Zoomorphism of ornamentation. Ibid., 221. An Irish crosier … exhibits a more pronounced character of zoomorphism.
