theosophy

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   religious or mystical philosophy claiming direct spiritual insight into the nature of God, the soul, or the divine world

   The mystic treated contemplation as the central path to theosophy.

2. 2
   noun

   usually capitalized: the syncretic religious movement associated with the Theosophical Society, combining ideas drawn from several spiritual traditions

   The lecture examined the influence of Theosophy on late nineteenth-century art and occultism.

From Medieval Latin theosophia and Greek theosophia, 'knowledge of divine things,' formed from theos, 'god,' + sophia, 'wisdom.' The general word long predates the Theosophical Society, whose modern spiritual movement gave the capitalized name Theosophy a more specific sense.

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