Plato

[ pley-toh ]

/ ˈpleɪ toʊ /

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noun

427–347 b.c., Greek philosopher.

a walled plain in the second quadrant of the face of the moon, having a dark floor: about 60 miles (96 kilometers) in diameter.

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Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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OTHER WORDS FROM Plato

an·ti-Pla·to, adjectivepro-Pla·to, adjective

Words nearby Plato

platitude, platitudinal, platitudinarian, platitudinize, platitudinous, Plato, Platonic, Platonically, Platonic love, Platonic or platonic, Platonic solid

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Plato in a sentence

Plato told us Socrates wanted to boot the poets and storytellers from the city because they dared to boast that wicked men could be happy.
Who Said Science and Art Were Two Cultures? - Issue 108: Change|Kevin Berger|November 17, 2021|Nautilus
Soon after, Athens became the western world’s center of philosophical inquiry, as the triumvirate of Socrates, Plato and then Aristotle established philosophy as an essential component of civilized intellectual discourse.
2,500 years ago, the philosopher Anaxagoras brought science’s spirit to Athens|Tom Siegfried|May 4, 2021|Science News
Americans often get a distorted view of politics they don’t share, which she likens to the misleading shadows cast by the burning fire in Plato’s allegory of the cave.
D.C.’s rising libertarian star, with her ‘healthy skepticism of state power,’ secures an influential podcast|Graham Vyse|April 12, 2021|Washington Post
SUSY particles have long been one of the most popular proposals for the identity of this cosmic dark matter, based on more complicated notions of symmetry than those available to Plato and Aristotle.
Physicists’ devotion to symmetry has led them astray before|Tom Siegfried|March 31, 2021|Science News

Plato, on theoretical rather than observational grounds, had already insisted that circularity’s symmetry signified perfection, and therefore circular motion should be required in the heavens.
Physicists’ devotion to symmetry has led them astray before|Tom Siegfried|March 31, 2021|Science News
Football “is what Plato calls a pharmakon, a poison and an elixir,” he writes.
Has Football Jumped the Shark?|Kevin Canfield|September 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Plato argued that true learning must be more than what Deresiewicz calls “highbrow entertainment for the moneyed class.”
The Ivy League Provides the Best Trade Schools Around|Nick Romeo|August 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The idea that education should profoundly influence how you live is at least as old as Plato.
The Ivy League Provides the Best Trade Schools Around|Nick Romeo|August 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Back to the concerto, or a little light Plato, or some such.
‘The Real Housewives of New York City’ Loses a Leg in Sixth-Season Finale|Tim Teeman|July 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
However, Plato and Aristotle each called for the exposure of feeble infants.
Living With Disability in the Dark Ages|Elizabeth Picciuto|July 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In Greek especially she was proficient, and Plato was to her more interesting than any story book.
The Childhood of Distinguished Women|Selina A. Bower
Plato, dissatisfied with the laws of his country, wrote out a code of morals and laws which he thought much better.
Gospel Philosophy|J. H. Ward
The earlier fathers of the church, the greater part of whom were Platonists, imitated this method of Plato's.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10)|Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
The progress of philosophy from Thales to Plato is the most stupendous triumph of the human intellect.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I|John Lord
Plato made philosophy to consist in the discussion of general terms, or abstract ideas.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I|John Lord

British Dictionary definitions for Plato (1 of 2)

Plato¹

/ (ˈpleɪtəʊ) /

noun

?427–?347 bc, Greek philosopher: with his teacher Socrates and his pupil Aristotle, he is regarded as the initiator of western philosophy. His influential theory of ideas, which makes a distinction between objects of sense perception and the universal ideas or forms of which they are an expression, is formulated in such dialogues as Phaedo, Symposium, and The Republic. Other works include The Apology and Laws

British Dictionary definitions for Plato (2 of 2)

Plato²

/ (ˈpleɪtəʊ) /

noun

a crater in the NW quadrant of the moon, about 100 km in diameter, that has a conspicuous dark floor

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

Cultural definitions for Plato

Plato

[ (play-toh) ]

An ancient Greek philosopher, often considered the most important figure in Western philosophy. Plato was a student of Socrates and later became the teacher of Aristotle. He founded a school in Athens (see also Athens) called the Academy. Most of his writings are dialogues. He is best known for his theory that ideal Forms or Ideas, such as Truth or the Good, exist in a realm beyond the material world. In fact, however, his chief subjects are ethics and politics. His best-known dialogues are the Republic, which concerns the just state, and the Symposium, which concerns the nature of love.