Meaning : The theory that the parts of any whole cannot exist and cannot be understood except in their relation to the whole.
Example :
Holism holds that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Holistic theory has been applied to ecology and language and mental states.
Synonyms : holism
(chemistry) any theory in which all matter is composed of tiny discrete finite indivisible indestructible particles.
The ancient Greek philosophers Democritus and Epicurus held atomic theories of the universe.