totem Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a clan or tribe identified by their kinship to a common totemic object
  2. noun emblem consisting of an object such as an animal or plant; serves as the symbol of a family or clan (especially among American Indians)

WordNet

To"tem noun
Etymology
Massachusetts Indian wutohtimoin that to which a person or place belongs.
Definitions
  1. A rude picture, as of a bird, beast, or the like, used by the Nord American Indians as a symbolic designation, as of a family or a clan.
    And they painted on the grave posts Of the graves, yet unforgotten, Each his own ancestral totem Each the symbol of his household; Figures of the bear and reindeer, Of the turtle, crane, and beaver. Longfellow.
    The totem,the clan deity, the beast or bird who in some supernatural way attends tothe clan and watches over it. Bagehot.

Webster 1913