Nathan Birnbaum coined the word zionism about the year 1890. But he is not the creator of this word, it was already in use, e.g. you can find in a letter of Ruben Bierer from the 9th December 1888 the expression "zionist brother's greeting". The word "zionist" is found already in the year 1877 in an in Roumanian written pamphlet (annual report of the order "Zion" in Bucharest). 