aesthetic

Pronunciation

• IPA: /iːsˈθɛ.tɪk/, /ɛsˈθɛ.tɪk/ (UK); /ɛsˈθɛ.tɪk/, /əsˈθɛ.tɪk/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German ästhetisch and French esthétique,^[2][3][4] from New Latin aestheticus,^[4] from Greek αἰσθητικός (aisthētikós, “of or for perception by the senses”),^[2][3] from αἰσθάνομαι (aisthánomai), to perceive, feel,^[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *au-, to perceive.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or having to do with sense perception, after Kant: 1798.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The broad sense, concerned with the appreciation of beauty, came from Alexander Baumgarten's Aesthetica (1750–58) and was established in German before Kant used the word in 1781;^[2][5][3] it reached English between 1803 and 1825, first recorded in Coleridge in 1821,^[2][3] and its use was controversial until later in the century.^[6] Walter Pater used it in 1868 for the movement of art for art's sake.^[3] Whewell had proposed callesthetics for the science of beauty.^[3] Aesthetics is from 1803,^[2] and aesthete, a person who appreciates beauty, from 1881.^[2] The noun, a guiding principle of taste or style, is a later use.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 1750s – Baumgarten's Aesthetica.^[2]
• 1798 – of sense perception.^[2]
• 1803 – aesthetics.^[2]
• 1821 – of beauty (Coleridge).^[2]
• 1868 – Pater and art for art's sake.^[3]
• 1881 – aesthete.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Concerning beauty or the appreciation of beauty.
2. Relating to the philosophy of aesthetics.
3. Having or showing good taste; artistic.

Noun

1. A set of principles of taste or style: the Bauhaus aesthetic.

Word family

• aesthetically
• aestheticize
• aestheticism
• nonaesthetic
• aesthete
• aesthetician
• aesthetics

Related words

• esthesis
• anaesthetic
• synesthesia

Usage notes

The spelling esthetic is sometimes used in American English.^[8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins