Pythagoreanism

[pi-thag-uh-ree-uh-niz-uhm]

noun

1. the doctrines of Pythagoras and his followers, especially the belief that the universe is the manifestation of various combinations of mathematical ratios.

Pythagoreanism

/ paɪˌθæɡəˈriːəˌnɪzəm /

noun

1. the teachings of Pythagoras and his followers, esp that the universe is essentially a manifestation of mathematical relationships

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pythagoreanism¹

First recorded in 1720–30; Pythagorean + -ism

Example Sentences

The duty of self-examination was simply a Pythagorean precept, enforced in that school long before the rise of Christianity, introduced into Stoicism when Pythagoreanism became popular in Rome, and confessedly borrowed from this source.

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While Croton was the chief seat of Pythagoreanism, luxury had fixed her throne in the neighbouring city of Sybaris.

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Believes that Franklin was a "follower of the seventeenth-century English Pythagoreans": since this belief is largely undocumented, one feels it curious that Pythagoreanism should bulk larger than the pattern of thought provoked by Locke and Newton.

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In an age which had forsaken curious speculation, whose whole interest was concentrated on the moral life, an age which longed for spiritual vision and supernatural support, an essentially religious philosophy like the new Pythagoreanism was sure to be a great power.

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Persian symbolism, 598; Babylonian elements in, astrology, 598, 602, sq.; relative influence of Iran and Babylon, different views of, 599; influence of Platonism and Pythagoreanism on, 600; doctrine of the soul’s descent, ib.; cosmic theory, doctrine of emanation, and deification of elemental powers, 601 sqq.;

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