[f. ASCETIC + -ISM.] The principles or practice of the Ascetics; rigorous self-discipline, severe abstinence, austerity.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., VIII. (1845), 126. Doomed to a life of celibacy by the asceticism which had corrupted the simplicity of Christianity.
1859. Mill, Liberty, ii. 89. In its horror of sensuality, it made an idol of asceticism.
