philosopher

American  

[fi-los-uh-fer] / fɪˈlɒs ə fər /

noun

• philosophers
  plural

1. a person who offers views or theories on profound questions in ethics, metaphysics, logic, and other related fields.

2. a person who is deeply versed in philosophy.

3. a person who establishes the central ideas of some movement, cult, etc.

4. a person who regulates their life, actions, judgments, utterances, etc., by the light of philosophy or reason.

5. a person who is rationally or sensibly calm, especially under trying circumstances.

6. Obsolete. an alchemist or occult scientist.

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philosopher British  

/ fɪˈlɒsəfə /

noun

1. a student, teacher, or devotee of philosophy

2. a person of philosophical temperament, esp one who is patient, wise, and stoical

3. (formerly) an alchemist or devotee of occult science

4. a person who establishes the ideology of a cult or movement

   the philosopher of the revolution

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philosopher Cultural  

1. Someone who engages in philosophy. Some examples of philosophers are Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, and Plato.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• philosophership
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• philosophers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of philosopher

First recorded before 900; Middle English, variant of philosophre from Anglo-French ( Middle French philosophe, from Latin philosophus ); replacing Old English philosoph, from Latin philosophus, from Greek philósophos “philosopher,” equivalent to philo- philo- + soph(ía) “wisdom” ( see -sophy) + -os noun suffix

Explanation

A philosopher is someone engaged in the study of philosophy. Have you ever wondered about the meaning of life? This is the type of weighty question a philosopher tackles. In ancient Greek, the word philosopho meant a “lover of wisdom.” Thales of Miletus, who lived in the 7th century B.C., generally gets credit for being the first western philosopher, though he is much less well known than Socrates, Plato or Aristotle. René Descartes, famous for his declaration, “I think, therefore I am,” is considered the first modern philosopher, though he lived in the 17th century.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

philosopher philosophers

It is curious that Mr. Nichols never mentions Melville’s 1857 novel, “The Confidence-Man,” with its pointed parodies of Emerson as the chilly philosopher Mark Winsome, and of Thoreau as Egbert, a tiresome pseudomoralist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

This English philosopher, a former resident of the town, is seen by scholars as one of the US Founding Fathers on account of a pamphlet he penned in 1776 that argued for the cause.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

Historians Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore, as well as philosopher Jason Stanley, left their jobs at Yale University to take positions at the University of Toronto.

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026

And in early March, he paid tribute to the philosopher and to "The Mother", who he said brought "a new spiritual vision to the entire world".

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

“The King’s chief philosopher himself has said that greenwitches do nothing more than calm one’s nerves — which is no small thing,” William said.

From "Ash" by Malinda Lo

For thousands of years, philosophers, linguists, and cognitive scientists have debated whether language is essential for thought.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

Writing in the Guardian, philosophers Mark Alfano and Michał Klincewicz called this AI-generated “slopaganda” — and argued that it works precisely because the aesthetic presentation bypasses reasoning and hits our emotions directly.

From Salon ● May 24, 2026

Since we—the authors of this essay—are philosophers, maybe you’d expect us to say it’s important to do all these virtuous things for the right reasons.

From Slate ● May 15, 2026

Ms. McDonagh also writes about Elizabeth Anscombe, who was one of the 20th century’s major philosophers, and also a student, friend and landlady of Ludwig Wittgenstein.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026

Before they could accept zero, philosophers in the West would have to destroy their universe.

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

Related Words

• theorist