philosopher

US /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/ UK /fɪˈlɒs.ə.fə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #9499

Meanings

1

noun
A person who studies or teaches ideas about life, knowledge, and the meaning of existence.

The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates taught by asking questions.
2

noun
A person who stays calm and thinks reasonably even when things go wrong.

He is something of a philosopher and never gets upset by bad news.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms philosophers

Derived forms antiphilosopherbiophilosophercyberphilosopherecophilosopherethnophilosopherfoolosophergeophilosophermetaphilosopherneurophilosophernonphilosopherphilosopher-kingphilosopheress

Related forms abstraction arguer author generalitymisosopherphilosophasterphilosophephilosophicalphilosophicidephilosophizerphilosophy reason

Simplified etymology

Philosopher entered English in the Middle English period and combines philo- ‘loving’ with Greek sophos ‘wisdom’.

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.

philosophre Middle English philosophe Middle French philosophus Latin φιλόσοφος Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Philosophy & Reasoning

External links

# philosopher

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /fɪˈlɒs.ə.fə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 9499

## Meanings
1. A person who studies or teaches ideas about life, knowledge, and the meaning of existence.
2. A person who stays calm and thinks reasonably even when things go wrong.

## Examples
- The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates taught by asking questions.
- He is something of a philosopher and never gets upset by bad news.

## Derived Forms
- antiphilosopher
- biophilosopher
- cyberphilosopher
- ecophilosopher
- ethnophilosopher
- foolosopher
- geophilosopher
- metaphilosopher
- neurophilosopher
- nonphilosopher
- philosopher-king
- philosopheress

## Related Forms
- abstraction
- arguer
- author
- generality
- misosopher
- philosophaster
- philosophe
- philosophical
- philosophicide
- philosophizer
- philosophy
- reason

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: philosophre
- Root: philosophe
- Root: philosophus
- Root: φιλόσοφος

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Philosopher comes 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. In present-day English it covers a person who studies or teaches ideas about life, knowledge, and the meaning of existence and a person who stays calm and thinks reasonably even when things go wrong. The wider family includes derived forms such as antiphilosopher, biophilosopher, cyberphilosopher, ecophilosopher, ethnophilosopher and related forms such as abstraction, arguer, author, generality.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Philosophy & Reasoning

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