philosopher

American  

[fi-los-uh-fer] / fɪˈlɒs ə fər /

noun

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.

---

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

---

philosopher Cultural  

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

---

Other Word Forms

• philosophership noun

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” ( -sophy ) + -os noun suffix

Example Sentences

Robert gets confused with Robert P. George, the Princeton political philosopher and conservative public intellectual, although they look nothing alike.

From The Wall Street Journal

That’s because it includes a spectrum of voices from across our culture – nobles and villagers, Black and Indigenous figures, women, British loyalists, philosophers and soldiers among them.

From Salon

To understand why, consider French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre’s 1944 work “Anti-Semite and Jew.”

From Salon

In between are the travels, the not-so-hidden unseemly jokes of the funniest man who ever lived and the thoughts of a philosopher critical of the modern world.

From The Wall Street Journal

Using a rich, bold palette, he depicted Islamic astronomers, philosophers, and desert wanderers with the same kinetic lines that defined his Indian art, but in warmer, earthen ochres reflecting the Gulf's landscape.

From BBC

Related Words

• theorist