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philosophy

Etymology and origin of the English word philosophy

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1297
Borrowed from
Old French filosofie via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (φιλοσοφία)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /fɪˈlɒs.ə.fi/, US /fɪˈlɑː.sə.fi/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English philosofie, borrowed from Old French filosofie and directly from Latin philosophia,[2][3] from Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophía, “love of knowledge, pursuit of wisdom”),[2][3] formed from philo- “loving” and sophía “knowledge, wisdom”,[2][3][4] from sophós “wise, learned”, of unknown origin.[2][3] It is related to philosopher and sophist.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Knowledge, learning, a body of knowledge: about 1300 in Etymonline and Barnhart.[2][3] The OED's first sense, natural philosophy or the study of nature, is from 1297.[5] Middle English spelled it in many ways, such as filozofie and phelosophie.[2]

Semantic evolution

The love and study of wisdom in the widest sense is from 1340,[5] rational speculation from the mid-14th century,[2] and in the late 14th century it also meant natural science and alchemy or the occult.[2][5] In the Middle Ages it embraced all the speculative sciences.[2] Moral philosophy, the principles of human conduct, is from about 1400.[5] A person's own system for the conduct of life is from 1771,[2] and the modern sense, the study of the most fundamental matters, metaphysics, from 1794.[2][5] The philosophy of a particular subject, as in the philosophy of history, is from 1713.[5]

Timeline

  • 1297 – natural philosophy.[5]
  • c. 1300 – knowledge, learning.[2][3]
  • 1340 – love of wisdom.[5]
  • c. 1386 – occult science.[5]
  • c. 1400 – moral philosophy.[5]
  • 1713 – the philosophy of a subject.[5]
  • 1771 – a person's rules for life.[2]
  • 1794 – metaphysics.[2][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The study of the nature of knowledge, reality, existence and ethics.
  2. A particular system of philosophical thought.
  3. The basic ideas and principles of a subject: the philosophy of science.
  4. A set of beliefs about how to live or act.
  5. Calm acceptance of hardship.

Word family

  • antiphilosophy
  • nonphilosophy
  • philosophize
  • analytic philosophy
  • Doctor of Philosophy
  • moral philosophy
  • natural philosophy
  • speculative philosophy
  • philology
  • philosopher
  • philosophical
  • philosophise
  • sophist
  • sophisticated

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Philosophy.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/philosophy. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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