theosophy English · revision 1271

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /θɪˈɒsəfɪ/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|theosophia]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|θεοσοφία|tr=theosophía|t=wisdom concerning God or divine things]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from ''theósophos'' “wise about God”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[af|grc|θεός|σοφία|tr1=theós|tr2=sophía|t1=god|t2=wisdom]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Any system that bases knowledge of nature on mystical knowledge of the divine nature (1650; 1640s in Etymonline, implied in ''theosophical'').^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Medieval Latin word was used by Scotus Erigena.^(Etymonline) In English it was applied to various systems, including the movement of Swedenborg's followers.^(Etymonline) From 1881 it named the system of the Theosophical Society, founded in New York in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky and others,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) which drew on Hinduism and Buddhism.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1640s – ''theosophical''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1650 – mystical knowledge of God and nature.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1875 – the Theosophical Society founded.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1881 – the system of the Theosophical Society.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Religious philosophy or speculation based on mystical insight into the nature of [[God]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(often capitalized)'' The teachings of the Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, which draw on [[Buddhism]] and [[Brahmanism]], especially on [[reincarnation]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[theosophic]]

+ * [[theosophically]]

+ * [[theosophist]]

+ * [[theosophical]]

+ * [[theosophism]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[philosophy]]

+ * [[theodicy]]

+ * [[theology]]

+ * [[theophany]]

+ * [[sophist]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}