Philosophy & ThoughtGreek → English
Pragmatic
/præɡˈmætɪk/adjective
Dealing with matters by what will actually work rather than by theory or principle.
The Greek roots
πρᾶγμα
prâgma
deed, thing done
Literally: “concerned with things done”
Follow a root:πρᾶγμα3 words
The story of the word
πρᾶγμα is a thing done, a piece of business, and πραγματικός described the man who handled affairs. Roman law used pragmaticus for the specialist who fed advocates their facts, and Habsburg Europe used Pragmatic Sanction for a decree settling a question of state. Peirce turned the adjective into a doctrine in 1878, arguing that the whole meaning of an idea lies in its practical effects, and the everyday sense owes as much to him as to the Greek.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
pragmatismpracticepraxispractical
In a sentence
The pragmatic choice was to ship the smaller feature and fix the rest in the autumn.