Philosophy & ThoughtGreek → English
Hedonism
/ˈhiːdənɪzəm/noun
The pursuit of pleasure as the chief good in life, or the ethical theory that says it is.
The Greek roots
ἡδονή
hēdonḗ
pleasure, delight
Literally: “pleasure-doctrine”
Follow a root:ἡδονή2 words
The story of the word
ἡδονή was the technical term at the centre of a long Greek argument. Epicurus made pleasure the highest good but defined it as freedom from bodily pain and mental disturbance, which in practice meant bread, water and conversation; the Cyrenaics meant the intense pleasure of the moment. English coined hedonism only in 1856, more than two millennia after the debate. The adjective ἡδύς, sweet, is the same root, and the Greeks called mint ἡδύοσμον, sweet-smelling.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → English
- First recorded
- 1856
Same family
hedonicanhedoniaEpicurean
In a sentence
The weekend was pure hedonism and cost him most of Monday.