ataraxia

See also: ataràxia

English

WOTD – 1 April 2012

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀταραξία (ataraxía), ἀ- (a-, negative prefix) +‎ ταράσσω (tarássō, “trouble, disturb”). Doublet of ataraxy.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ætəˈɹæksiə/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Noun

ataraxia (usually uncountable, plural ataraxias)

1. (literary, Greek philosophy) Tranquility of mind; absence of mental disturbance.

   Synonyms: peace of mind, ataraxy

   • 1665, Joseph Glanvill, chapter XXVII, in Scepsis Scientifica: Or, Confest Ignorance, the Way to Science; in an Essay of the Vanity of Dogmatizing, and Confident Opinion with a Reply to the Exceptions of the Learned Thomas Albius‎^[1], London: E. Cotes, page 168:

     And what happineſs is there in a ſtorm of paſſions? On this account the Scepticks affected an indifferent æquipondious neutrality as the only means to their Ataraxia, and freedom from paßionate diſturbances.

   • 1838, Piomingo, John Robinson, The Savage‎^[2], 2nd edition, Philadelphia: J. Ferral, →OCLC, →OL, page 194:

     O, for that apathy of soul, that sweet ataraxia, of which I have heard, which forbids alike the approaches of pleasure and pain, hope and despair!

   • 1921, J.E. Crawford Flitch, transl., The Tragic Sense Of Life‎^[3], translation of Del sentimiento trágico de la vida by Miguel de Unamuno:

     That terrible Latin poet Lucretius, whose apparent serenity and Epicurean ataraxia conceal so much despair, said that piety consists in the power to contemplate all things with a serene soul—pacata posse mente omnia tueri.

   • 2006, Robert Harris, Imperium‎^[4], London: Arrow Books, Part 2, Chapter 15, p. 400:

     […] he was an Epicurean not in the commonly misunderstood sense, as a seeker after luxury, but in the true meaning, as a pursuer of what the Greeks call ataraxia, or freedom from disturbance.

   • 2020, Coulter H. George, How Dead Languages Work‎^[5], Oxford: Oxford University Press, Chapter 3 'Latin' p.67:

     Once they’d seen that the world is nothing but atoms and void, and that we simply disintegrate after death, and so have no need to fear the Torments of Hell, they would be in a better position to cultivate ataraxia—the Greek word for the calm, unruffled composure that was the Epicurean ideal.

Related terms

• ataractic
• ataraxy

Translations

absence of mental disturbance

• Armenian: ատարաքսիա (hy) (atarakʻsia)
• Basque: ataraxia
• Belarusian: атараксія (ataraksija)
• Catalan: ataràxia (ca) f
• Czech: ataraxie
• Finnish: mielenrauha (fi), tyyneys (fi), ataraksia (fi)
• French: ataraxie (fr) f
• German: Ataraxie (de) f
• Greek: αταραξία (el) f (ataraxía)
• Ido: ataraxio (io)
• Irish: ataraicse f, ataráisce f
• Italian: atarassia (it) f
• Lithuanian: ataraksija (lt)
• Polish: ataraksja (pl) f
• Portuguese: ataraxia (pt) f
• Romanian: ataraxie (ro) f
• Russian: атара́ксия (ru) f (ataráksija)
• Serbo-Croatian: атараксија
• Spanish: ataraxia (es) f
• Turkish: ataraksiya (tr)
• Ukrainian: атараксія (ataraksija)

See also

• Epicureanism

Further reading

• ataraxia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Basque

Etymology

Ancient Greek ἀταραξία (ataraxía).

Noun

ataraxia inan

1. ataraxia

Portuguese

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀταραξία (ataraxía).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.ta.ɾakˈsi.ɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.ta.ɾakˈsi.ɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.ta.ɾakˈsi.a/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.tɐ.ɾɐˈksi.ɐ/

• Hyphenation: a‧ta‧ra‧xi‧a

Noun

ataraxia f (plural ataraxias)

1. ataraxia

Further reading

• “ataraxia”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “ataraxia”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [a.ta.rakˈsi.a]

Noun

ataraxia f

1. definite nominative singular of ataraxie: the ataraxia
2. definite accusative singular of ataraxie: the ataraxia

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀταραξία (ataraxía).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ataˈɾaɡsja/ [a.t̪aˈɾaɣ̞.sja]
• Rhymes: -aɡsja
• Syllabification: a‧ta‧ra‧xia

Noun

ataraxia f (plural ataraxias)

1. ataraxia

Further reading

• “ataraxia”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025