\To"tem\, n. [Massachusetts Indian wutohtimoin that to
which a person or place belongs.]
A rude picture, as of a bird, beast, or the like, used by the
North 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 to the clan and watches over
      it.                                      --Bagehot.