acatalepsy

[ey-kat-l-ep-see]

noun

Philosophy.

1. an ancient Skeptical view that no more than probable knowledge is available to human beings.

Other Word Forms

• acataleptic noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of acatalepsy¹

1595–1605; (< Medieval Latin acatalēpsia ) < Greek akatalēpsía, equivalent to akatalēpt ( eîn ) to not comprehend (verbal derivative of akatálēptos incomprehensible, ungraspable; a- ⁶, catalepsy ) + -ia -ia

Example Sentences

Acatalepsy, a-kat-a-lep′si, n. incomprehensibility, a term of the sceptic school of Carneades, who thought nothing could be known to certainty by man.—adj.

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