fandom
/ˈfan-dəm/noun
Meaning
A fandom is a group of fans connected by a shared interest in a movie, television show, book, game, musician, creator, character, sport, or other cultural subject. The word can also mean the activities, identity, emotional investment, and creative culture surrounding that interest, including discussion, fan art, cosplay, fan fiction, collecting, criticism, and online community-building.[2]
- 1. A community of people who share strong interest in the same media, character, performer, creator, team, or subject.
- 2. The culture and activities associated with that community, such as fan art, fan fiction, theories, memes, conventions, and organized support.
- 3. A person's state of being an enthusiastic fan or their particular attachment to an object of interest.
- 4. The subject or franchise around which a particular fan community forms, as in a person's favorite fandoms.
Examples
“The fandom found every hidden clue in the trailer.”
“I joined the game fandom for the fan art and lore debates.”
“That fandom is making the character trend again.”
“Her fandom is split over the season finale.”
“The book has a tiny but extremely creative fandom.”
Origin and spread
Fandom is formed from fan plus the suffix -dom, which can describe a state, realm, or community. Merriam-Webster records the word's first known use in 1903, while historical usage initially included organized enthusiasm around sports. In the early twentieth century, science-fiction fans adopted fandom for the shared culture and community forming around the genre; later fan communities, including Star Trek groups in the 1960s, helped shape the participatory model associated with modern media fandom. The internet made fandoms easier to find, organize, and sustain across geographic boundaries, and contemporary usage commonly includes online discussion and fan-created work.[1]
How to use it
Fandom is informal but widely understood and is used for sports, music, games, books, television, film, celebrities, creators, and online communities. It can refer to a broad culture or to one specific group, as in the anime fandom or the fandom for a particular series. Being a fan does not always mean participating in a fandom: the word often suggests some degree of shared identity, interaction, or contribution, though communities differ in how much participation they expect.
