philosophy
- philosophy
\ \ [14] Greek phílos (a word of uncertain origin) meant ‘loving’. It has entered into an enormous range of English compounds, including philander [17] (adopted from a Greek word meaning ‘loving men’), philanthropy [17], philately, and philology [17], not to mention all the terms suffixed with -phil or -phile, such as Anglophile [19] and paedophile [20]. Philosophy itself means etymologically ‘loving wisdom’. It comes via Old French filosofie and Latin philosophia from Greek philosophíā, whose second element was a derivative of sophós ‘wise’ (source of English sophisticate).
\ \ Cf.⇒ SOPHISTICATE
Word origins - 2ed.
J. Ayto.
2005.
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Look at other dictionaries:
philosophy — (Gk., love of knowledge or wisdom) The study of the most general and abstract features of the world and categories with which we think: mind, matter, reason, proof, truth, etc. In philosophy, the concepts with which we approach the world… … Philosophy dictionary
philosophy of language — language, philosophy of … Philosophy dictionary
philosophy of law — law, philosophy of … Philosophy dictionary
philosophy of mathematics — mathematics, philosophy of … Philosophy dictionary
philosophy of religion — religion, philosophy of … Philosophy dictionary
philosophy of science — science, philosophy of … Philosophy dictionary
Philosophy — • Detailed article on the history of the love of wisdom Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Philosophy Philosophy † … Catholic encyclopedia
philosophy — Philosophy (from the Greek philo (love) and sophia (wisdom)) in British culture has undergone a series of revolutionary changes since 1960. Until recently, English language philosophy was dominated by analytic and linguistic philosophy based… … Encyclopedia of contemporary British culture
Philosophy — Phi*los o*phy (f[i^]*l[o^]s [ o]*f[y^]), n.; pl. {Philosophies} (f[i^]*l[o^]s [ o]*f[i^]z). [OE. philosophie, F. philosophie, L. philosophia, from Gr. filosofi a. See {Philosopher}.] 1. Literally, the love of, inducing the search after, wisdom;… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
philosophy — Philosophy in the early years of the twentieth century was heavily influenced by two different traditions. On the one hand, there was the legacy of the Europeanizing movement known as Krausism, a kind of secular humanism with a religious tinge … Encyclopedia of contemporary Spanish culture
philosophy — [fi läs′ə fē] n. pl. philosophies [ME philosophie < OFr < L philosophia < Gr < philosophos: see PHILOSOPHER] 1. Archaic love of, or the search for, wisdom or knowledge 2. theory or logical analysis of the principles underlying conduct … English World dictionary
