Protagoras

American  

[proh-tag-er-uhs] / proʊˈtæg ər əs /

noun

1. c480–c421 b.c., Greek Sophist philosopher.

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Protagoras British  

/ prəʊˈtæɡəˌræs /

noun

1. ?485–?411 _bc , Greek philosopher and sophist, famous for his dictum "Man is the measure of all things."

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Other Word Forms

• Protagorean adjective
• Protagoreanism noun

Example Sentences

You know, it goes back to Plato’s Protagoras.

From The New Yorker

At one particularly erudite confrontation, the movie director Michelangelo Antonioni is pitted against an unprepossessing old woman; still another requires the group’s mysterious leader, known as the Great Protagoras, to face an upstart challenger.

From Washington Post

Anaxagoras, Protagoras, and of course Socrates were hauled up on charges of heresy and impiety.

From Literature

According to one tradition, when the philosopher Protagoras was convicted on charges of heresy, his books were dumped in the city marketplace and burned.

From Literature

Whether you credit “The Sopranos,” “The Shield,” “Mad Men” or "Breaking Bad," TV’s recent renaissance, much like the actual Renaissance, began with a literal interpretation of moral relativism: “Man,” as Protagoras put it, “is the measure of all things.”

From Los Angeles Times