Philosophy & ThoughtGreek → English
Platonism
/ˈpleɪtənɪzəm/noun
The philosophy of Plato, above all the claim that abstract Forms are more real than the things we perceive.
The Greek roots
Πλάτων
Plátōn
the broad one
πλατύς
platýs
broad, flat
Literally: “the doctrine of the broad-built man”
The story of the word
Diogenes Laertius reports that the philosopher was named Aristocles at birth and got Plato as a nickname, for a wrestler's broad shoulders, or a broad forehead, or a broad style, depending on which ancient source you trust. The same πλατύς gives the platypus, broad-foot, and the platitude, a remark flattened by use. Mathematicians who say that numbers are discovered rather than invented are still called Platonists, and many of them are.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 17th century
Same family
platypusplateauplatitudeplate
In a sentence
His Platonism showed whenever he insisted that a perfect circle exists somewhere, whatever the compass does.