peripatetic

[ per-uh-puh-tet-ik ]
See synonyms for peripatetic on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. walking or traveling about; itinerant.

  2. (initial capital letter) of or relating to Aristotle, who taught philosophy while walking in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.

  1. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the Aristotelian school of philosophy.

noun
  1. a person who walks or travels about.

  2. (initial capital letter) a member of the Aristotelian school.

Origin of peripatetic

1
1400–50; late Middle English <Latin peripatēticus<Greek peripatētikós of Aristotle and his school, literally, walking about, equivalent to peripatē- (verbid stem of peripateîn to walk about, equivalent to peri-peri- + pateîn to walk; akin to path) + -tikos-tic

Other words for peripatetic

Other words from peripatetic

  • per·i·pa·tet·i·cal·ly, adverb
  • per·i·pa·tet·i·cism [per-uh-puh-tet-uh-siz-uhm], /ˌpɛr ə pəˈtɛt əˌsɪz əm/, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use peripatetic in a sentence

  • But there are some (Aristotelians or Peripatetics) who might think that the intelligible Man and the sense-man form but one.

    Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3 | Plotinos (Plotinus)
  • Its entrance interested him, and he followed all its peripatetics with as much attention as if he were concerned in it.

    The Fourth Estate, vol. 2 | Armando Palacio Valds
  • He has written the life of a great peripatetic philosopher and chronicled only the peripatetics.

    Reviews | Oscar Wilde
  • According to the former one the Peripatetics had no accurate acquaintance with Nature, and according to the second, Erasistratus.

  • It is found in the theories of Speusippus, Xenocrates, and also to some extent in those of the Peripatetics.

British Dictionary definitions for peripatetic (1 of 2)

peripatetic

/ (ˌpɛrɪpəˈtɛtɪk) /


adjective
  1. itinerant

  2. British employed in two or more educational establishments and travelling from one to another: a peripatetic football coach

noun
  1. a peripatetic person

Origin of peripatetic

1
C16: from Latin peripatēticus, from Greek peripatētikos, from peripatein to pace to and fro

Derived forms of peripatetic

  • peripatetically, adverb

British Dictionary definitions for Peripatetic (2 of 2)

Peripatetic

/ (ˌpɛrɪpəˈtɛtɪk) /


adjective
  1. of or relating to the teachings of Aristotle, who used to teach philosophy while walking about the Lyceum in ancient Athens

noun
  1. a student of Aristotelianism

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012