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Philosopher definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PHILOS'OPHER, n. [See Philosophy.] A person versed in philosophy, or in the principles of nature and morality; one who devotes of nature and morality; one who devotes himself to the study of physics, or of moral or intellectual science.
1. In a general sense, one who is profoundly versed in any science.
Philosopher's stone, a stone or preparation which the alchimists formerly sought, as the instrument of converting the baser metals into pure gold.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a specialist in philosophy
2: a wise person who is calm and rational; someone who lives a life of reason with equanimity

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English philosophe, philosophre, from Anglo-French, from Latin philosophus, from Greek philosophos, from phil- + sophia wisdom, from sophos wise Date: 14th century 1. a. a person who seeks wisdom or enlightenment ; scholar, thinker b. a student of philosophy 2. a. a person whose philosophical perspective makes meeting trouble with equanimity easier b. an expounder of a theory in a particular area of experience c. one who philosophizes

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a person engaged or learned in philosophy or a branch of it. 2 a person who lives by philosophy. 3 a person who shows philosophic calmness in trying circumstances. Phrases and idioms: philosophers' (or philosopher's) stone the supreme object of alchemy, a substance supposed to change other metals into gold or silver. Etymology: ME f. AF philosofre var. of OF, philosophe f. L philosophus f. Gk philosophos (as PHILO-, sophos wise)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Philosopher Phi*los"o*pher, n. [OE. philosophre, F. philosophe, L. philosophus, Gr. ?; ? loving + ? wise. Cf. Philosophy.] 1. One who philosophizes; one versed in, or devoted to, philosophy. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered him. --Acts xvii. 18. 2. One who reduces the principles of philosophy to practice in the conduct of life; one who lives according to the rules of practical wisdom; one who meets or regards all vicissitudes with calmness. 3. An alchemist. [Obs.] --Chaucer. Philosopher's stone, an imaginary stone which the alchemists formerly sought as instrument of converting the baser metals into gold.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(philosophers) 1. A philosopher is a person who studies or writes about philosophy. ...the Greek philosopher Plato. N-COUNT 2. If you refer to someone as a philosopher, you mean that they think deeply and seriously about life and other basic matters. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Searcher after truth, student of first principles, seeker of wisdom. 2. Theorist, theorizer, man of abstractions, speculator.

Foolish Dictionary

One who instead of crying over spilt milk consoles himself with the thought that it was over four-fifths water.

Moby Thesaurus

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