aesthetic English · revision 10500

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1798|origins=de ästhetisch|origins=grc αἰσθητικός}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /iːsˈθɛ.tɪk/, /ɛsˈθɛ.tɪk/ ''(UK)''; /ɛsˈθɛ.tɪk/, /əsˈθɛ.tɪk/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from German ästhetisch and French esthétique,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from New Latin aestheticus,^(MWU 2024) from Greek [[m|grc|αἰσθητικός|tr=aisthētikós|t=of or for perception by the senses]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from aisthánesthai, to perceive, feel,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from PIE *au-, to perceive.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of or having to do with sense perception, after Kant: 1798.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) it reached English between 1803 and 1825, first recorded in Coleridge in 1821,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and its use was controversial until later in the century.^(Cresswell 2021) Walter Pater used it in 1868 for the movement of ''art for art's sake''.^(Etymonline) Whewell had proposed callesthetics for the science of beauty.^(Etymonline) ''Aesthetics'' is from 1803,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''aesthete'', a person who appreciates beauty, from 1881.^(Barnhart 1988) The noun, a guiding principle of taste or style, is a later use.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1750s – Baumgarten's Aesthetica.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1798 – of sense perception.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1803 – aesthetics.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1821 – of beauty (Coleridge).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1868 – Pater and art for art's sake.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1881 – aesthete.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Concerning beauty or the appreciation of beauty.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Relating to the philosophy of [[aesthetics]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Having or showing good taste; artistic.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A set of principles of taste or style: ''the Bauhaus aesthetic''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==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.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}