Platonize

American  

[pleyt-n-ahyz] / ˈpleɪt nˌaɪz /

especially British, Platonise

verb (used without object)

Platonized, Platonizing

1. to follow or adopt the doctrines of Plato.

2. to think or reason in the manner of Plato.

---

verb (used with object)

Platonized, Platonizing

1. to give a Platonic character to.

2. to explain in accordance with Platonic principles.

Other Word Forms

• Platonization
  noun
• Platonizer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Platonize

From the Greek word platōnízein, dating back to 1600–10. See Platonic, -ize

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Platonize Platonized Platonizing

To study it, is to Platonize almost inevitably.

From Amiel's Journal by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.

He cannot Platonize divine truth like his Puritan contemporary, John Howe. 

From Bunyan Characters (3rd Series) by Whyte, Alexander

I love such dreams, for they are more than real; They have a passion in them in whose birth The heart receives again its beau ideal— Its Platonized embodiment of worth.

From Graham's Magazine Vol XXXIII No. 4 October 1848 by Various

He marks, indeed, a stage of transition from the older Platonizing philosophy to the later and more rigid scholasticism.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 7 "Equation" to "Ethics" by Various

"It is in the Platonizing or Alexandrian, branch of Judaism that we must seek for the antecedents of the Christian doctrine of the Logos."

From Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Being a Comparison of the Old and New Testament Myths and Miracles with those of the Heathen Nations of Antiquity Considering also their Origin and Meaning by Doane, T. W.

This does not conflict with what we believe to be equally true, that the Platonizing commentaries on his poem, like that of Landino, are the most satisfactory.

From Among My Books Second Series by Lowell, James Russell

Nor is the parallel much nearer with “the latitude men;” for Socinianism lacked their Platonizing tendency.

From History of Free Thought in Reference to The Christian Religion by Farrar, Adam Storey

In the time of Hadrian, Christianity had become diffused all over Egypt, and had found among the Platonizing philosophers of the metropolis many converts.

From History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2) Revised Edition by Draper, John William