φιλοσοφία

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 1 September 2015

Etymology

From φῐλόσοφος (philósophos, “loving knowledge”) +‎ -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā), from φῐ́λος (phílos, “love”) +‎ σοφός (sophós, “skilled with handcrafts; wise”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pʰi.lo.so.pʰí.aː/ → /ɸi.lo.soˈɸi.a/ → /fi.lo.soˈfi.a/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pʰi.lo.so.pʰí.aː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /pʰi.lo.soˈpʰi.a/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ɸi.lo.soˈɸi.a/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /fi.lo.soˈfi.a/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /fi.lo.soˈfi.a/

Noun

φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱ • (philosophíā) f (genitive φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱς); first declension

1. love of knowledge, pursuit of knowledge
2. the study, investigation of a topic
3. philosophy
   • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia :

     τῶν δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀρρωστημάτων καὶ παθῶν ἡ φιλοσοφία μόνη φάρμακόν ἐστι.

     tôn dè tês psukhês arrhōstēmátōn kaì pathôn hē philosophía mónē phármakón esti.

     but for the soul's illnesses and sufferings, the only remedy is philosophy. (@perseus.tuftus.edu)

   • New Testament, Epistle to the Colossians 2:8:

     Βλέπετε μή τις ὑμᾶς ἔσται ὁ συλαγωγῶν διὰ τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης...

     Blépete mḗ tis humâs éstai ho sulagōgôn dià tês philosophías kaì kenês apátēs...

     Watch that you are not taken captive by philosophy and empty deception...

Inflection

First declension of ἡ φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱ; τῆς φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱ hē philosophíā	τὼ φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱ tṑ philosophíā	αἱ φῐλοσοφῐ́αι hai philosophíai
Genitive	τῆς φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱς tês philosophíās	τοῖν φῐλοσοφῐ́αιν toîn philosophíain	τῶν φῐλοσοφῐῶν tôn philosophiôn
Dative	τῇ φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾳ têi philosophíāi	τοῖν φῐλοσοφῐ́αιν toîn philosophíain	ταῖς φῐλοσοφῐ́αις taîs philosophíais
Accusative	τὴν φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱν tḕn philosophíān	τὼ φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱ tṑ philosophíā	τᾱ̀ς φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱς tā̀s philosophíās
Vocative	φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱ philosophíā	φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱ philosophíā	φῐλοσοφῐ́αι philosophíai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀφῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱ f (aphilosophíā, “contempt for philosophy”)

Related terms

and their derivatives

• σοφῐ́ᾱ f (sophíā, “skill, wisdom”)
• σοφῐστής m (sophistḗs, “expert; teacher”)
• φῐλοσοφέω (philosophéō, “philosophize, love knowledge”)
• φῐλοσόφημᾰ n (philosóphēma, “a subject of philosophic inquiry; logic demonstration, principal”)
• φῐλοσοφῐκός m (philosophikós, “concerned with philosophy”)
• φῐλόσοφος m (philósophos, “lover of wisdom, philosopher”)

and see at σοφός (sophós, “wise”), φῐ́λος (phílos, “beloved, loving”)

Descendants

• Arabic: فلسفة (fálsafa)
  • Azerbaijani: фәлсәфә / fəlsəfə
  • Bashkir: фәлсәфә (fəlsəfə)
  • Malay: falsafah
• Greek: φιλοσοφία (filosofía)
• → Latin: philosophia (see there for further descendants)
• → Russian: филосо́фия f (filosófija)

Further reading

• “φιλοσοφία”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “φιλοσοφία”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• φιλοσοφία in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• G5385 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • metaphysics idem, page 527.
  • philosophy idem, page 610.
  • wisdom idem, page 982.

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Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophía).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fi.lo.soˈfi.a/
• Hyphenation: φι‧λο‧σο‧φί‧α

Noun

φιλοσοφία • (filosofía) f (plural φιλοσοφίες)

1. philosophy (science and belief system)

Declension

Declension of φιλοσοφία

	singular	plural
nominative	φιλοσοφία •	φιλοσοφίες •
genitive	φιλοσοφίας •	φιλοσοφιών •
accusative	φιλοσοφία •	φιλοσοφίες •
vocative	φιλοσοφία •	φιλοσοφίες •

Synonyms

• κοσμοθεωρία f (kosmotheoría, “worldview”)

Related terms

• αμπελοφιλοσοφία f (ampelofilosofía, “inferior philosophy”)
• μεταφιλοσοφία f (metafilosofía, “metaphilosophy”)
• φιλοσοφημένος (filosofiménos, “philosophising”, participle)
• φιλοσοφικά (filosofiká, “philosophically”, adverb)
• φιλοσοφική (filosofikí, “school of philosophy”)
• φιλοσοφική λίθος f (filosofikí líthos, “philosopher's stone, (Latin): lapis philosophorum”)
• φιλοσοφικός (filosofikós, “philosophical”)
• φιλοσοφικότητα (filosofikótita, “philosophical character”)
• φιλόσοφος m or f (filósofos, “philosopher”)
• φιλοσοφώ (filosofó, “philosophise”)
• ψευδοφιλόσοφος m (psevdofilósofos, “pseudo-philosopher”)

 

and see at σοφός