philosophy English · revision 4878

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1297|origins=grc φιλοσοφία}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /fɪˈlɒs.ə.fi/, US /fɪˈlɑː.sə.fi/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|philosofie]], [[bor|fro|filosofie]] and directly from [[la|philosophia]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[grc|φιλοσοφία|tr=philosophía|t=love of knowledge, pursuit of wisdom]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) formed from [[philo-]] “loving” and sophía “knowledge, wisdom”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from sophós “wise, learned”, of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[philosopher]] and [[sophist]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Knowledge, learning, a body of knowledge: about 1300 in Etymonline and Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The OED's first sense, natural philosophy or the study of nature, is from 1297.^(OED 1989) Middle English spelled it in many ways, such as filozofie and phelosophie.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The love and study of wisdom in the widest sense is from 1340,^(OED 1989) rational speculation from the mid-14th century,^(Etymonline) and in the late 14th century it also meant natural science and alchemy or the occult.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In the Middle Ages it embraced all the speculative sciences.^(Etymonline) Moral philosophy, the principles of human conduct, is from about 1400.^(OED 1989) A person's own system for the conduct of life is from 1771,^(Etymonline) and the modern sense, the study of the most fundamental matters, metaphysics, from 1794.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The philosophy of a particular subject, as in ''the philosophy of history'', is from 1713.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1297 – natural philosophy.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – knowledge, learning.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1340 – love of wisdom.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1386 – occult science.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – moral philosophy.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1713 – the philosophy of a subject.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1771 – a person's rules for life.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1794 – metaphysics.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The study of the nature of [[knowledge]], reality, existence and [[ethics]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A particular system of philosophical thought.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The basic ideas and principles of a subject: ''the philosophy of science''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A set of beliefs about how to live or act.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Calm acceptance of hardship.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[antiphilosophy]]

+ * [[nonphilosophy]]

+ * [[philosophize]]

+ * [[analytic philosophy]]

+ * [[Doctor of Philosophy]]

+ * [[moral philosophy]]

+ * [[natural philosophy]]

+ * [[speculative philosophy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[philology]]

+ * [[philosopher]]

+ * [[philosophical]]

+ * [[philosophise]]

+ * [[sophist]]

+ * [[sophisticated]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}