philosophy
English
Alternative forms
- philosophie (obsolete)
- phylosophie (obsolete)
- phylosophy (nonstandard)
Etymology
From Middle English philosophie, Old French philosophie, and their source, Latin philosophia, from Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophía), from φίλος (phílos, “loving”) + σοφία (sophía, “wisdom”). Synchronically, philo- + -sophy.
Pronunciation
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Audio (GA): (file)
Noun
philosophy (countable and uncountable, plural philosophies)
- (uncountable, originally) The love of wisdom.
- (uncountable) An academic discipline that seeks truth through reasoning rather than empiricism.
- Philosophy is often divided into five major branches: logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and aesthetics.
- 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
- During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]
- (countable) A comprehensive system of belief.
- (countable) A view or outlook regarding fundamental principles underlying some domain.
- a philosophy of government; a philosophy of education
- (countable) A general principle (usually moral).
- 2012, Francesca Valensise, From Building Fabric to City Form: Reconstruction in Calabria at end of Eighteenth Century[1], Gangemi Editore spa, →ISBN, page 8:
- As a matter of fact the Enlightment culture was based on a philosophy inspired to an ethical laicism whose aim was to create a better society based on principles such as solidarity, equality of rights and duties, and full freedom.
- (archaic) A broader branch of (non-applied) science.
- A calm and thoughtful demeanor; calmness of temper.
- (French printing, dated) Synonym of small pica.
Meronyms
- See also Thesaurus:philosophy
Derived terms
- analytic philosophy
- antiphilosophy
- astrophilosophy
- biophilosophy
- continental philosophy
- counterphilosophy
- cyberphilosophy
- Doctor of Philosophy
- ecophilosophy
- ethnophilosophy
- geophilosophy
- metaphilosophy
- moral philosophy
- natural philosophy
- neurophilosophy
- nonphilosophy
- perennial philosophy
- personal philosophy
- philosophize
- philosophylike
- philosophy of mind
- philosophy of science
- physiophilosophy
- pseudophilosophy
- psychophilosophy
- religiophilosophy
- sociophilosophy
- speculative philosophy
- theophilosophy
- xenophilosophy
Related terms
Related terms
Translations
the pursuit of wisdom
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academic discipline
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comprehensive system of belief
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view regarding fundamental principles
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general principle
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb
philosophy (third-person singular simple present philosophies, present participle philosophying, simple past and past participle philosophied)
See also
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “philosophy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- “philosophy”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
Further reading
- "philosophy" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 235.
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English terms prefixed with philo-
- English terms suffixed with -sophy
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with archaic senses
- en:Printing
- English dated terms
- English verbs
- English terms with rare senses
- en:Philosophy