Philosopher

How to spell philosopher

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce philosopher

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does philosopher mean?

1. nounA person who studies or develops ideas about knowledge, existence, ethics, and the nature of reality.

Philosopher in a sentence

• The ancient Greek philosopher argued that a good life depends on reason.

• Every philosopher in the seminar defended a different theory of justice.

Where does philosopher come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word traces back to the Greek philosophos, which literally meant 'a lover of wisdom', built from philos 'loving, dear' and sophia 'wisdom'. Ancient tradition credits Pythagoras with the modest coinage: rather than claim to be wise (a sophos), he supposedly called himself merely a lover of wisdom. The Greek term passed into Latin as philosophus and then into English through Old French philosophe during the 1300s, settling into its modern -er ending by analogy with other agent nouns. The same philo- 'loving' element appears in words like philanthropist and philharmonic, while the soph- 'wise' root surfaces in sophisticated and sophomore. For spelling, it helps to remember the two hidden 'ph' spellings that both stand for an f sound, a giveaway of the word's Greek pedigree, plus the soft schwa in the middle that tempts writers to drop a letter.

How the word is built

• philo- (loving)
• soph (wisdom, from sophos 'wise')
• -er (one who does)