philosopher
/fəˈlɑsəfɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.72 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A student of philosophy.
noun
A scholar or expert engaged in or contributing to philosophical inquiry.
noun
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.
Archaic
noun
A student, scholar, or expert in any branch of knowledge, especially those branches studied prior to being considered part of pure science.
Archaic
Example Sentences
- "Not much later—perhaps only two or three weeks later he has discovered meaning in them; he knows that they say "The cat sat on the hat." How this happens no one really knows, despite the efforts of philosophers and psychologists over two and a half millennia to study the phenomenon."
- "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."
- "Then certaine Philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoikes, encountred him"
- "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."
- "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."
- "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."
Etymology
From Middle English philosophre, 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. Displaced native Old English ūþwita.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: philosophre, -, philosophe, philosophus, φιλόσοφος
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/
- British English: /fɪˈlɒs.ə.fə(ɹ)/