Platonic love

American  

[pluh-ton-ik luhv, pley-] / pləˈtɒn ɪk ˈlʌv, pleɪ- /

noun

1. Platonism. love of the Idea of beauty, seen as terminating an evolution from the desire for an individual and the love of physical beauty to the love and contemplation of spiritual or ideal beauty.

2. Usually platonic love an intimate companionship or relationship, especially between two people of different genders, that is characterized by the absence of sexual involvement; a spiritual affection.

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Etymology

Origin of Platonic love

First recorded in 1635–45

Example Sentences

Platonic love is heroic and “excites to the desire for philosophy and truth,” he declaims.

From Slate • Feb. 2, 2016

But it took the cleverness of Baldassare Castiglione, a 16th century popularizer of Platonic love treatises, to humanize the conceit for sophisticated courtiers.

From Time Magazine Archive

Now, if the imagination distribute the spell through the body, as well as through the soul, ordinary love is the consequence; but, if imagination be confined within the intellect, Platonic love is the consequence.

From The Friendships of Women by Alger, William Rounseville

He has perplexed himself by a formal protest against the perils of Platonic love, but apologises for his hero in the manners of the age.

From Amenities of Literature Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature by Disraeli, Isaac

Plato said centuries before that mere opinion, however false, was nevertheless always in love with true knowledge, and this Platonic love Descartes found in the doubter's conviction of error.

From The Will to Doubt An essay in philosophy for the general thinker by Lloyd, Alfred H.