Santayana

American

[san-tee-an-uh, -ah-nuh, sahn-tah-yah-nah] / ˌsæn tiˈæn ə, -ˈɑ nə, ˌsɑn tɑˈjɑ nɑ /

noun

George, 1863–1952, Spanish philosopher and writer in the U.S.; in Europe after 1912.

Santayana British

/ ˌsæntɪˈænə /

noun

George. 1863–1952, US philosopher, poet, and critic, born in Spain. His works include The Life of Reason (1905–06) and The Realms of Being (1927–40)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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Santayana

It was George Santayana who famously said that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2025

The most-used quote on that subject is from Harvard-educated Spanish author/philosopher George Santayana, who wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2022

George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 10, 2022

The philosopher George Santayana famously said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2020

And here I discover a shadowy, ghostly likeness between you and this George Santayana.

From The Jessica Letters: An Editor's Romance by Paul Elmer More

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023