phi|los|o|pher

phi|los|o|pher «fuh LOS uh fuhr», noun.

1. a lover of wisdom; person who studies philosophy a great deal: »

Our philosophers have not been slow to go beyond the…dogma that all utterances other than statements of fact…are literally meaningless (London Times).

2. a person who has a system of philosophy: »

Plato, the great Greek philosopher wrote of many of his theories of government in “The Republic.”

3. a) a person who is calm and reasonable under hard conditions, accepting life and making the best of it: »

There was never yet philosopher That could endure the toothache patiently (Shakespeare).

b) a person who is guided in his life by principles which relate to man as a rational and social being: »

To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom, as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust (Thoreau).

4. Obsolete. a) an alchemist. b) an expert in some other occult science.

╂[< Anglo-French philosofre, Old French philosophe, learned borrowing from Latin philosophus < Greek philósophos lover of wisdom < phílos loving + sophós wise]