kalon

American  

[kuh-lon] / kəˈlɒn /

noun

1. (especially in ancient Greek philosophy) the ideal of beauty, especially moral goodness or nobility.

   He had done what was morally right and necessary, had taken possession of kalon, and thus fulfilled his destiny as a man.

   Achilles decides that his physical life is less important than the demands of kalon.

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Etymology

Origin of kalon

First recorded in 1745–50; from Greek kalón, neuter of kalós, “beautiful, fair”; cf. calli- ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kalon

But “beautiful” in the Aristotelian sense can also refer to kalon, a Greek word that can indicate a moral beauty, a nobility of spirit.

From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2016

Indeed, so close is the connection between the two conceptions that the Greeks used the same word, to kalon, to express beauty of form and nobility of character.

From Christianity and Ethics A Handbook of Christian Ethics by Archibald B. C. Alexander

He says to Agesidamus, a youth of Locri—ideai te kalon, horai te kekramenon—whom he had kept waiting for an intended ode, that a debt paid with usury is the end of reproach.

From The Renaissance Studies in Art and Poetry by Walter Pater

Where, therefore, the Greeks had spoken of to kalon, and we should speak of moral good, Cicero speaks of honestum, and founds precisely similar arguments upon it.

From The History of Roman Literature From the earliest period to the death of Marcus Aurelius by Charles Thomas Cruttwell

He says to Agesidamus, a youth of Locri—idea te kalon, hôra te kekramenon—whom he had kept waiting for an intended ode, that a debt paid with usury is the end of reproach.

From The Renaissance: studies in art and poetry by Walter Pater