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.

---

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

---

philosopher Cultural  

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

---

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

Writing during Anna Hazare's anti-corruption fast in 2011, political philosopher Pratap Bhanu Mehta argued , externalthat such protests can become "deeply coercive".

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 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

Here the enduring wisdom of Indian spiritual philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, Ojai’s informal patron saint, serves even to hold a recent incursion of ultra-rich to account.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026

A contemporary philosopher has distinguished between three sorts of facts: brute facts, language-dependent facts and institutional facts.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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

That, at least, has been the contention of most philosophers, theologians, novelists and nearly every person counted as wise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026

Jürgen Habermas, one of the most influential philosophers and public intellectuals in post-war Germany, has died aged 96.

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026

The philosophers of his day were unable to refute the paradox.

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

Related Words

• theorist