Thales

American  

[they-leez] / ˈθeɪ liz /

noun

1. c640–546? b.c., Greek philosopher, born in Miletus.

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Thales British  

/ ˈθeɪliːz /

noun

1. ?624–?546 _bc , Greek philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer, born in Miletus. He held that water was the origin of all things and he predicted the solar eclipse of May 28, 585 _bc

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Thales Scientific  

/ thā′lēz /

1. Greek philosopher who was considered by later Greek writers to be a founder of geometry and abstract astronomy. He is said to have accurately predicted a solar eclipse in 585 bce, although this and certain other stories associated with Thales have been questioned by modern scholars.

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Thales Cultural  

1. An ancient philosopher of Greece, called by some the first genuine Greek philosopher. He lived about 600 years before Jesus and about 150 years before Socrates.

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Discover More

Thales is known for predicting an eclipse and thus contributing to the idea that the heavens were separate from the gods.

Example Sentences

These are made by the French firm Thales at its factory in east Belfast.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

German company Rheinmetall saw its shares tumble 17 percent between February 27 and March 27, while Thales dropped 6.7 percent and RTX -- formerly Raytheon Technologies -- fell 6.4 percent.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

European defense giant Thales sells drones that use AI to sift through sonar data and find mines faster.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

The friction points to potential hurdles in the regulatory process that awaits Airbus, Leonardo and Thales to get their space merger over the line.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

Egyptian mathematics was famed throughout the Mediterranean, and it is likely that the early Greek mathematicians, masters of geometry like Thales and Pythagoras, studied in Egypt.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife