Maoism is the system of political thinking named after Mao Zedong, who led China for many years. It is a kind of communism shaped by his ideas: a revolution that starts with farmers in the countryside, and a belief that struggle must go on even after the party holds power. You meet the word in history and politics, in a serious register. People who like the ideas and people who reject them both use the same name, so you have to hear who is talking. Though actually Maoism is not just “whatever Mao did”: later groups in other countries have called themselves Maoist while going their own way. In Taiwan you will already know the person as 毛澤東; this English word is simply the -ism built from his name.