philosopher
English
Alternative forms
- phylosopher (nonstandard)
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman or Middle French philosophe, from Latin philosophus, from Ancient Greek φιλόσοφος (philósophos, literally “lover of wisdom”) + -er.
Credited as having been coined by Pythagoras to describe himself.[1][2]
Noun
philosopher (plural philosophers)
- (originally) A lover of wisdom.
- A student of philosophy.
- A scholar or expert engaged in or contributing to philosophical inquiry.
- 2007, Harold Bloom, Bloom's Modern Critical Views: Stephen King
- Their playwrights knew better. Scandal, murder, hair-rending and railing against the gods sold tickets. King is not a philosopher. He knows how to sell tickets.
- 2007, Harold Bloom, Bloom's Modern Critical Views: Stephen King
- (archaic) A person who applies the principles of philosophy to the conduct of their life, as by acting calmly and rationally in the face of inevitable change.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Acts 17:18:
- Then certaine Philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoikes, encountred him
- 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
- This is not the sort of happiness which a man would in general wish to owe to his wife; but where other powers of entertainment are wanting, the true philosopher will derive benefit from such as are given.
-
- (archaic) A student, scholar, or expert in any branch of knowledge, especially those branches studied prior to being considered part of pure science.
- (obsolete) An alchemist.
- 1813, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, The Canon's Yeoman's Tale
- Then thus conclude I, since that God of heaven
Will not that these philosophers neven
How that a man shall come unto this stone,
I rede as for the best to let it gon.
- Then thus conclude I, since that God of heaven
- 1945, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy
- No further progress was made in this science until the Mohammedan alchemists embarked upon their search for the philosopher's stone, the elixir of life, and a method of transmuting base metals into gold.
- 1813, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, The Canon's Yeoman's Tale
Antonyms
Related terms
Translations
person devoted to studying philosophy
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References
- Attributed dates to Roman antiquity: Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, 5.3.8-9 = Heraclides Ponticus fr. 88 Wehrli, Diogenes Laertius 1.12, 8.8, Iamblichus VP 58.
- This view has been challenged by Walter Burkert, but it has been defended by C.J. De Vogel, Pythagoras and Early Pythagoreanism (1966), pp. 97–102, and C. Riedweg, Pythagoras: His Life, Teaching, And Influence (2005), p. 92.
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fe/
Audio (file)
Conjugation
Conjugation of philosopher (see also Appendix:French verbs)
present participle | philosophant /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fɑ̃/ | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
past participle | philosophé /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fe/ | ||||||
infinitive | |||||||
simple | philosopher | ||||||
compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
gerund1 | |||||||
simple | philosophant /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fɑ̃/ | ||||||
compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | philosophe /fi.lɔ.zɔf/ |
philosophes /fi.lɔ.zɔf/ |
philosophe /fi.lɔ.zɔf/ |
philosophons /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fɔ̃/ |
philosophez /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fe/ |
philosophent /fi.lɔ.zɔf/ |
imperfect | philosophais /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fɛ/ |
philosophais /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fɛ/ |
philosophait /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fɛ/ |
philosophions /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fjɔ̃/ |
philosophiez /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fje/ |
philosophaient /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fɛ/ | |
past historic2 | philosophai /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fe/ |
philosophas /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fa/ |
philosopha /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fa/ |
philosophâmes /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fam/ |
philosophâtes /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fat/ |
philosophèrent /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fɛʁ/ | |
future | philosopherai /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fʁe/ |
philosopheras /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fʁa/ |
philosophera /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fʁa/ |
philosopherons /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fʁɔ̃/ |
philosopherez /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fʁe/ |
philosopheront /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fʁɔ̃/ | |
conditional | philosopherais /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fʁɛ/ |
philosopherais /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fʁɛ/ |
philosopherait /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fʁɛ/ |
philosopherions /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
philosopheriez /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fə.ʁje/ |
philosopheraient /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fʁɛ/ | |
(compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | philosophe /fi.lɔ.zɔf/ |
philosophes /fi.lɔ.zɔf/ |
philosophe /fi.lɔ.zɔf/ |
philosophions /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fjɔ̃/ |
philosophiez /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fje/ |
philosophent /fi.lɔ.zɔf/ |
imperfect2 | philosophasse /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fas/ |
philosophasses /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fas/ |
philosophât /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fa/ |
philosophassions /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fa.sjɔ̃/ |
philosophassiez /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fa.sje/ |
philosophassent /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fas/ | |
(compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
simple | — | philosophe /fi.lɔ.zɔf/ |
— | philosophons /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fɔ̃/ |
philosophez /fi.lɔ.zɔ.fe/ |
— | |
compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
1 Only usable with preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, the past historic, past anterior, imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive tenses may be found to have been replaced with the indicative present perfect, indicative pluperfect, present subjunctive and past subjunctive tenses respectively (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). |
Further reading
- “philosopher” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Latin
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