totem
\ TOH-tuhm \ , noun;
1.a natural object or an animate being, as an animal or bird, assumed as the emblem of a clan, family, or group.
2.an object or natural phenomenon with which a family or sib considers itself closely related.
3.a representation of such an object serving as the distinctive mark of the clan or group.
4.anything serving as a distinctive, often venerated, emblem or symbol.
Quotes:
Many's the savage I've run into who sees his totem in dreams or visions.
-- Philip José Farmer, "The Dark Design," 1977
Grandma refused to interpret the dreams. Padlock asked her fiancé to have a go at it. He based his interpretation on totemic symbols. Padlock belonged to the elephant totem .
-- Moses Isegawa, "Abyssinian Chronicles," 1998
Origin: This Americanism came to English in the mid-1700s from Ojibwa.
Dictionary.com
