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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.

An inhabitant of Abdera, in Thrace. The Abderite, Democritus, the Laughing Philosopher.

An Academic philosopher.

Incomprehensibility of things; the doctrine held by the ancient Skeptic philosophers, that human knowledge never amounts to certainty, but only to probability.

Pertaining to Antiochus, a contemporary with Cicero, and the founder of a sect of philosophers.

erson; as when his majesty is used for a king, or when, instead of Aristotle, we say, the philosopher; or, conversely, the use of a proper name instead of an appellative, as when a wise man is called a Solomon, or an eminent orator a Cicero.

mes, intensified or energetic perception. Leibnitz. Reid. This feeling has been called by philosophers the apperception or consciousness of our own existence. Sir W. Hamilton.

the growth and continuation of living beings; the anima mundi or plastic power of the old philosophers. [Obs.] Johnson.

Of or pertaining to Archimedes, a celebrated Greek philosopher; constructed on the principle of Archimedes' screw; as, Archimedean drill, propeller, etc. Archimedean screw, or Archimedes' screw, an instrument, said to have been invented by Archimedes, for raising water, formed by winding a flexible tube round a cylinde…

Of or pertaining to Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher (384-322 b. c.). -- n.

To make resemble. [Obs.] If I was a philosopher, says Montaigne, I would naturalize art instead of artilizing nature. Bolingbroke.

One of a sect of peripatetic philosophers, who appeared in Italy before the restoration of learning; so denominated from Averroes, or Averrhoes, a celebrated Arabian philosopher. He held the doctrine of monopsychism.

The matter of which the philosopher's stone was believed to be composed.

Of or pertaining to the French philosopher René Descartes, or his philosophy. The Cartesion argument for reality of matter. Sir W. Hamilton. Cartesian coördinates (Geom), distance of a point from lines or planes; -- used in a system of representing geometric quantities, invented by Descartes. -- Cartesian devil, a sma…

To imbue with or adapt to Christian principles. Christianized philosophers. I. Taylor.

nything becomes of the color of a lemon; esp., in alchemy, the state of perfection in the philosopher's stone indicated by its assuming a deep yellow color. Thynne.

Of, or relating to, Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher and teacher. -- n.

the reflection that the religion of Christ has been attacked in vain by all the wits and philosophers, and its triumph has been complete. P. Henry.

nies of Thales, Anaxagoras, and Plato. The cosmogony or creation of the world has puzzled philosophers of all ages. Goldsmith.

One of a sect or school of philosophers founded by Antisthenes, and of whom Diogenes was a disciple. The first Cynics were noted for austere lives and their scorn for social customs and current philosophical opinions. Hence the term Cynic symbolized, in the popular judgment, moroseness, and contempt for the views of ot…