entelechy

[en-tel-uh-kee]

noun, plural en·tel·e·chies.

a realization or actuality as opposed to a potentiality.
(in vitalist philosophy) a vital agent or force directing growth and life.

Origin of entelechy

1595–1605; < Late Latin entelechīa < Greek entelécheia, equivalent to en- en-² + tél(os) goal + éch(ein) to have + -eia -y³

Related formsen·te·lech·i·al

[en-tuh-lek-ee-uh l] /ˌɛn təˈlɛk i əl/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for entelechy

Historical Examples of entelechy

The soul, Aristotle defines as the first entelechy of the body.
A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy
Isaac Husik
The soul actualises the body, and becomes, as he said, its entelechy.
The Mind and the Brain
Alfred Binet
Now let us examine the opinion of those who call the soul an entelechy.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 1
Plotinos (Plotinus)
That is why, if we do grant the existence of an entelechy, it must be inseparable from the body.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 1
Plotinos (Plotinus)
In every other monad, the entelechy, or energy, is but one factor.
Leibniz's New Essays Concerning the Human Understanding
John Dewey

British Dictionary definitions for entelechy

entelechy

noun plural -chies metaphysics

(in the philosophy of Aristotle) actuality as opposed to potentiality
(in the system of Leibnitz) the soul or principle of perfection of an object or person; a monad or basic constituent
something that contains or realizes a final cause, esp the vital force thought to direct the life of an organism

Word Origin for entelechy

C17: from Late Latin entelechia, from Greek entelekheia, from en- ² + telos goal, completion + ekhein to have

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for entelechy

c.1600, from Greek entelekheia, from en "in" (see en- (2)) + telei, dative of telos "perfection" (see tele-) + ekhein "to have" (see scheme (n.)). In Aristotle, "the condition in which a potentiality has become an actuality."