philosopher

American  

[fi-los-uh-fer] / fɪˈlɒs ə fər /

noun

• philosophers
  plural

1. a person who offers views or theories on profound questions in ethics, metaphysics, logic, and other related fields.

2. a person who is deeply versed in philosophy.

3. a person who establishes the central ideas of some movement, cult, etc.

4. a person who regulates their life, actions, judgments, utterances, etc., by the light of philosophy or reason.

5. a person who is rationally or sensibly calm, especially under trying circumstances.

6. Obsolete. an alchemist or occult scientist.

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philosopher British  

/ fɪˈlɒsəfə /

noun

1. a student, teacher, or devotee of philosophy

2. a person of philosophical temperament, esp one who is patient, wise, and stoical

3. (formerly) an alchemist or devotee of occult science

4. a person who establishes the ideology of a cult or movement

   the philosopher of the revolution

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philosopher Cultural  

1. Someone who engages in philosophy. Some examples of philosophers are Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, and Plato.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• philosophership
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• philosophers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of philosopher

First recorded before 900; Middle English, variant of philosophre from Anglo-French ( Middle French philosophe, from Latin philosophus ); replacing Old English philosoph, from Latin philosophus, from Greek philósophos “philosopher,” equivalent to philo- philo- + soph(ía) “wisdom” ( see -sophy) + -os noun suffix

Explanation

A philosopher is someone engaged in the study of philosophy. Have you ever wondered about the meaning of life? This is the type of weighty question a philosopher tackles. In ancient Greek, the word philosopho meant a “lover of wisdom.” Thales of Miletus, who lived in the 7th century B.C., generally gets credit for being the first western philosopher, though he is much less well known than Socrates, Plato or Aristotle. René Descartes, famous for his declaration, “I think, therefore I am,” is considered the first modern philosopher, though he lived in the 17th century.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

philosopher philosophers

Its intellectual roots can be traced to Australian philosopher Peter Singer.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

Many of those texts were works by Philodemus, an Epicurean philosopher who lived in Herculaneum roughly a century before Vesuvius erupted.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

Nick Bostrom, the former Oxford philosopher, was an early student of AI-related existential risk.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

The term is often linked to the author and philosopher Nick Bostrom, who more than a decade ago defined the idea as an "intellect" that is superior to humans in all forms.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

In 1844, the philosopher Auguste Comte was searching for an example of a sort of knowledge that would be always hidden.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

As AI worries grew, EA philosophers such as MacAskill were "kind of thinking about the future of humanity," said Brian Berkey of the University of Pennsylvania.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

In Chicago, ACT UP’s Gregg Bordowitz became her mentor and professor, and for three years, Rosales immersed herself in learning, becoming obsessed with Gertrude Stein and philosophers like Gilles Deleuze.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

He runs his business by the “humanistic capitalism” he derived from ancient philosophers whose names he casually drops in conversation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

A central concept in the paper is what philosophers call "substrate flexibility."

From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026

They had all shared the assumption that such models must involve various combinations of circular movement, because the philosophers had instructed them that all movements in the heavens was required to be circular.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• theorist