Etymologically
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philosophor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pʰɪˈɫɔ.sɔ.pʰɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [fiˈlɔː.s̬o.for][1]

Forms

philosophor (present infinitive philosophārī, perfect active philosophātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1] Manuscripts also spell it filosofor.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin philosophus (“philosopher”) + -or.[3][1] The TLL compares φιλοσοφέω (philosophéō, “to philosophize”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plautus,[3] where someone remarks that a man is now philosophizing too, not only lying, philosophatur quoque iam, non mendax modo est.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Plautus it means to philosophize in the comic sense, to utter sententious reflections, to moralize:[3] in the Pseudolus someone says “I'm saved, now he's philosophizing”.[3] Ennius, quoted by Cicero, has the line philosophari est mihi necesse, at paucis, “I must philosophize, but in few words”.[4] In Cicero and later it is to study or apply oneself to philosophy.[3][4] Priscian discusses it among deponent verbs,[2] and Lactantius and Church Latin use it of philosophizing.[2][5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of moralizing.[3][4][6]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius, “I must philosophize, but in few words”.[4][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of studying philosophy.[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To study or apply oneself to philosophy, to philosophize.[3][4][1][5]
  2. To utter sententious reflections, to moralize.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de