aesthetics

See also: æsthetics

English

Alternative forms

• esthetics (US)
• æsthetics (dated)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛsˈθɛt.ɪks/, (nonstandard) /ɛsˈtɛt.ɪks/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˌæsˈθɛt.ɪks/, /əsˈθɛt.ɪks/, /ɪsˈθɛt.ɪks/

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew-

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewis-dʰh₁

Proto-Hellenic *awistʰomai

Ancient Greek αἰσθάνομαι (aisthánomai)

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Hellenic *-tis

Ancient Greek -τις (-tis)

Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs)

Ancient Greek αἴσθησῐς (aísthēsĭs)

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Hellenic *-kos

Ancient Greek -κός (-kós)

Ancient Greek -ῐκός (-ĭkós)

Ancient Greek αἰσθητικός (aisthētikós)bor.

Latin aesthēticusder.

German Ästhetikder.

▲

New Latin aesthēticusbor.

French esthétiqueder.

English aesthetic

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Indo-European *-ikos

Proto-Italic *-ikos

Latin -icuslbor.

Old French -iquebor.

Middle English -ik

English -ic

Old English -as

Middle English -es

English -s

English -ics

English aesthetics

From aesthetic + -ics.

Noun

aesthetics (usually uncountable, plural aesthetics)

1. The study or philosophy of beauty.
   • 1996, Theodore Gracyk, Rhythm and Noise: An Aesthetics of Rock:
   • 2017, Geneviève Zubrzycki, National Matters: Materiality, Culture, and Nationalism:

     At a glance, Thor Steinar resembles waspy American pseudo-collegiate brands like Abercrombie and Fitch, Hollister, and Aeropostale, while displaying a distinctly Nordic aesthetics.

2. An artist's principles, preferences, and/or his agenda

Derived terms

• ethnoaesthetics
• experimental aesthetics
• neuroaesthetics
• phonoaesthetics
• psycho-aesthetics
• somaesthetics

Related terms

• aesthetic
• aestheticism

Translations

study or philosophy of beauty

• Albanian: estetikë (sq) f
• Arabic: عِلْم الْجَمَال m (ʕilm al-jamāl), فَلْسَفَةُ الْجَمَال f (falsafatu l-jamāl)
• Armenian: գեղագիտություն (hy) (geġagitutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: estetika
• Belarusian: эстэ́тыка f (estétyka)
• Bengali: সৌন্দর্যশাস্ত্র (śōundorjośastro)
• Breton: kenedoniezh (br) f
• Bulgarian: есте́тика (bg) f (estétika)
• Catalan: estètica (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 美學 / 美学 (zh) (měixué), 審美學 / 审美学 (zh) (shěnměixué) (less common)

• Czech: estetika (cs) f
• Danish: æstetik c
• Dutch: esthetica (nl) f
• Esperanto: estetiko
• Estonian: esteetika
• Faroese: fagurfrøði f, listfrøði f
• Finnish: estetiikka (fi)
• French: esthétique (fr) f
• Galician: estética (gl) f
• Georgian: ესთეტიკა (ka) (esteṭiḳa)
• German: Ästhetik (de) f
• Greek: αισθητική (el) f (aisthitikí)
• Hebrew: אֶסְתֶּטִיקָה (he) f (estétika)
• Hindi: सौन्दर्यशास्त्र (hi) m (saundaryaśāstra), सौंदर्यशास्त्र (hi) m (saundaryaśāstra)
• Hungarian: esztétika (hu)
• Icelandic: fagurfræði f
• Ido: estetiko (io)
• Irish: aeistéitic f
• Italian: estetica (it) f
• Japanese: 美学 (ja) (びがく, bigaku)
• Kannada: ಸೌಂದರ್ಯಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ (kn) (saundaryaśāstra)
• Kazakh: эстетика (kk) (éstetika)
• Khmer: សោភ័ណវិទ្យា (saophŏən vɨtyiə)
• Korean: 미학(美學) (ko) (mihak)
• Kyrgyz: эстетика (ky) (estetika)
• Latvian: estētika f
• Lithuanian: estetika f
• Macedonian: естетика f (estetika)
• Malay: estetika
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: estetikk m

  Nynorsk: estetikk m

• Persian: زیبایی‌شناسی (zibâyi-šenâsi)
• Polish: estetyka (pl) f
• Portuguese: estética (pt) f
• Romanian: estetică (ro) f
• Russian: эсте́тика (ru) f (estɛ́tika)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: естѐтика f

  Latin: estètika (sh) f

• Sicilian: estètica f, stètica f
• Slovak: estetika (sk) f
• Slovene: estetika (sl) f
• Spanish: estética (es) f
• Swedish: estetik (sv) c
• Tagalog: santingan, dalubsantingan, palasantingan, estetika
• Tajik: эстетика (estetika), зебоишиносӣ (zeboyišinosi)
• Tamil: அழகியல் (ta) (aḻakiyal), முருகியல் (murukiyal)
• Thai: สุนทรียศาสตร์ (sǔn-tá-rii-yá-sàat), สุนทรียภาพ (sǔn-tá-rii-yá-pâap)
• Turkish: estetik (tr)
• Ukrainian: есте́тика f (estétyka)
• Uzbek: estetika (uz)
• Vietnamese: mỹ học (vi) (美學)
• Volapük: jönav (vo)

principles or preferences of beauty

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 審美 / 审美 (zh) (shěnměi)

Etymology 2

Noun

aesthetics

1. plural of aesthetic