physis

American  

[fahy-sis] / ˈfaɪ sɪs /

noun

plural

physes

1. the principle of growth or change in nature.

2. nature as the source of growth or change.

3. something that grows, becomes, or develops.

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Etymology

Origin of physis

< Greek phýsis origin, natural form of a thing; akin to phŷlon race ( phylon )

Example Sentences

In environmental terms, Thoreau, who saw the landscape as imbued with an essential wildness that could be heedlessly destroyed, embodies physis.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

A key part of philosophy, as that discipline was inherited from Aristotle and taught in the universities, was the study of nature—‘nature’ coming from the Latin word natura, for which the Greek equivalent is physis.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Beneath the entangling personal motives, the debate is one of the oldest in the Western philosophical tradition, between nomos and physis.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

A leading part was here played by the sophistic distinction between nomos and physis, Law and Nature, i.e. that which is based on human convention, and that which is founded on the nature of things.

From Atheism in Pagan Antiquity by Andersen, Ingeborg

Liddell and Scott definition of physis: "the nature, inborn quality, property or constitution of a person or thing."

From Plato and Platonism by Pater, Walter