peripatetic

peripatetic
\ \ [16] Peripatetic means literally ‘walking round’. It comes via Old French peripatetique and Latin peripatēticus from Greek peripatētikós. This was a derivative of peripatein, a compound verb formed from the prefix perí- ‘round’ and pateinwalk’. But the Greeks used it not simply for ‘walk around’, but specifically for ‘teach while walking around’ – an allusion to the teaching methods of Aristotle, who discussed and argued with his pupils and followers while walking about in the Lyceum, a garden near the temple of Apollo in Athens.
\ \ Hence adherents of Aristotle’s school of philosophy are known as Peripatetics. The more general use of the adjective for ‘itinerant’ represents a relatively modern (17th-century) return to its etymological meaning.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • peripatetic — PERIPATÉTIC, Ă, peripatetici, ce, adj. Care este întemeiat de Aristotel, care urmează doctrina lui Aristotel, care aparţine peripatetismului, privitor la peripatetism. ♦ (Substantivat) Peripatetician. – Din fr. péripatétique. Trimis de oprocopiuc …   Dicționar Român

  • Peripatetic — Per i*pa*tet ic, a. [L. peripateticus, Gr. ?, fr. ? to walk about; ? about + ? to walk: cf. F. p[ e]ripat[ e]tique.] 1. Walking about; itinerant. [1913 Webster] 2. Of or pertaining to the philosophy taught by Aristotle (who gave his instructions… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Peripatetic — Per i*pa*tet ic, n. 1. One who walks about; a pedestrian; an itinerant. Tatler. [1913 Webster] 2. A disciple of Aristotle; an Aristotelian. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • peripatetic — index itinerant (adjective), itinerant (noun), moving (in motion), pedestrian Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. B …   Law dictionary

  • peripatetic — c.1400 (n.), disciple of Aristotle, from O.Fr. perypatetique (14c.), from L. peripateticus pertaining to the disciples or philosophy of Aristotle, from Gk. peripatetikos given to walking about (especially while teaching), from peripatein, from… …   Etymology dictionary

  • peripatetic — itinerant, ambulatory, ambulant, nomadic, vagrant …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • peripatetic — [adj] constantly traveling ambulant, itinerant, itinerate, migrant, mobile, nomadic, perambulant, roaming, roving, vagabond, vagrant, wandering, wayfaring; concepts 401,584 Ant. fixed, settled …   New thesaurus

  • peripatetic — ► ADJECTIVE 1) travelling from place to place. 2) working or based in a succession of places. DERIVATIVES peripatetically adverb. ORIGIN Greek peripat tikos walking up and down …   English terms dictionary

  • peripatetic — [per΄i pə tet′ik] adj. [Fr péripatétique < L peripateticus < Gr peripatētikos < peripatein, to walk about < peri , around + patein, to walk < IE base * pent , to step, go > FIND] 1. [P ] of the philosophy or the followers of… …   English World dictionary

  • peripatetic — [[t]pe̱rɪpəte̱tɪk[/t]] ADJ GRADED: usu ADJ n If someone has a peripatetic life or career, they travel around a lot, living or working in places for short periods of time. [FORMAL] Her father was in the army and the family led a peripatetic… …   English dictionary

  • peripatetic — [ˌpɛrɪpə tɛtɪk] adjective 1》 travelling from place to place.     ↘working or based in a succession of places each for a short period.     ↘(of a teacher) working in more than one school or college. 2》 (Peripatetic) Aristotelian. [with ref. to… …   English new terms dictionary

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