Collins English Dictionary defines Naturism as “the belief that nakedness is beneficial to health and emotional wellbeing” whereas the definition of Nudism as “the practice of nudity, esp for reasons of health, religion, etc“. This would seem to suggest that, to the Collins Dictionary at least, Naturism is a belief and Nudism is a practice, but further reading would suggest in goes deeper than that.
You may also receive a different definition depending on where in the world you ask the question. A review of the website for the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) and the website for British Naturism (BN) show some different ways in which the words are used. The home page for the AANR website uses the word nudism or derivatives, such as nude or nudist, 47 times, the BN home page has no mention of these words. By contrast, the BN home page contains the words naturism or naturist on 35 occasions in comparison to a wordcount of just 5, on the US site. Elsewhere in the world, the vast majority of national organisations and indeed the International Naturist Federation (INF-FNI) have adopted the word (or a translation of the word) naturist in the title of their organisation.
As so often happens, different words can mean different things in different locations. At the end of the day, Rosie and I will continue to seek to live a more naturist life and call ourselves naturists, but will accept that when meeting someone raised in the US, they may to refer to themselves as nudists. We’re all the same once we’ve lost our clothes, irrespective of the country in which we grew up or the colour (or should that be color) of our skin.
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