"characteristic of a sadist," 1892, after German sadistisch; see sadism. Related: Sadistically. For "of or characteristic of de Sade or his writings or philosophy," Sadean has been used.
1724, a Latinization of Chinese K'ung Fu-tzu "K'ung the philosopher (or Master)" (c. 551 B.C.E.-c. 479 B.C.E.), who sought to remedy the degeneracy and oppression of his time by the spread of virtue and learning. The name first appears in the West in a Latin publication of Chinese works (Paris, 1687).
His ethico-political philosophy is based on proper observance of the relationships of human life (parent/child, husband/wife, prince/subject, etc.). The term Confucianism (1836) sometimes is extended to ancient Chinese speculative philosophy generally. Related: Confucian (adj.), 1759.
important concept in Greek philosophy, from Greek aretē "rank, nobility, moral virtue, excellence," especially of manly qualities; literally "that which is good," a word of uncertain origin.
by 1847 in philosophy; by 1863 in journalism, from sensational + -ize. Originally of audiences ("subject to the influence of sensation") as well as topics ("exaggerate in a sensational manner"). Related: Sensationalized; sensationalizing.
mid-15c., in grammar; later "something imperative" (c. 1600), from Old French imperatif in the grammatical sense (13c.) and directly from Late Latin imperativus (see imperative (adj.)). In philosophy from 1796.
feminine or negative principle in Chinese philosophy, 1670s, from Chinese (Mandarin) yin, said to mean "female, night, lunar," or "shade, feminine, the moon." Compare yang. Yin-yang is from 1850.
college slang for "intelligence, wit, cleverness, common sense," 1706, from Greek nous, Attic form of noos "mind, intelligence, perception, intellect," which was taken in English in philosophy 1670s as "the perceptive and intelligent faculty." The Greek word is of uncertain origin. Beekes writes, "No doubt an old inherited verbal noun ..., though there is no certain etymology."
It is always difficult to find an English word to represent nous. The standard dictionary translation is "mind," but this does not have the correct connotations, particularly when the word is used in a religious philosophy. ... Mathematics, the world of ideas, and all thought about what is not sensible, have, for Pythagoras, Plato, and Plotinus, something divine; they constitute the activity of nous, or at least the nearest approach to its activity that we can conceive. [Bertrand Russell, "A History of Western Philosophy"]
"pertaining to or dealing with the context," 1822, from context on model of textual, etc. In philosophy, contextual definition is recorded from 1873, contextualization from 1930, contextualizefrom 1934. Related: Contextualized; contextualizing; contextually.
"not relatively; in the full sense of the word, wholly, completely," the Latin adverb from the stem of simplex "simple" (see simplex), meaning, in classical Latin, "simply, plainly, directly, straightforwardly." It was used in philosophy to translate Greek haplos.
