English
tokenistic
From token + -istic.
Formed from token + -istic
Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to show, instruct, teach’
Proto-Germanic *taikną ‘indicator, symbol, sign’
Proto-West Germanic *taikn ‘sign, token, symbol’
Old English tācn ‘sign, symbol’
Middle English token
English token
Today it means
adj Serving as a token of support, compliance, etc., but lacking substance; exhibiting or relating to tokenism.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “tokenistic”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / tokenistic