Plato

[ pley-toh ]

noun
  1. 427–347 b.c., Greek philosopher.

  2. a walled plain in the second quadrant of the face of the moon, having a dark floor: about 60 miles (96 kilometers) in diameter.

Other words from Plato

  • an·ti-Pla·to, adjective
  • pro-Pla·to, adjective

Words Nearby Plato

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How to use Plato in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Plato (1 of 2)

Plato1

/ (ˈpleɪtəʊ) /


noun
  1. ?427–?347 bc, Greek philosopher: with his teacher Socrates and his pupil Aristotle, he is regarded as the initiator of western philosophy. His influential theory of ideas, which makes a distinction between objects of sense perception and the universal ideas or forms of which they are an expression, is formulated in such dialogues as Phaedo, Symposium, and The Republic. Other works include The Apology and Laws

British Dictionary definitions for Plato (2 of 2)

Plato2

/ (ˈpleɪtəʊ) /


noun
  1. a crater in the NW quadrant of the moon, about 100 km in diameter, that has a conspicuous dark floor

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

Cultural definitions for Plato

Plato

[ (play-toh) ]


An ancient Greek philosopher, often considered the most important figure in Western philosophy. Plato was a student of Socrates and later became the teacher of Aristotle. He founded a school in Athens (see also Athens) called the Academy. Most of his writings are dialogues. He is best known for his theory that ideal Forms or Ideas, such as Truth or the Good, exist in a realm beyond the material world. In fact, however, his chief subjects are ethics and politics. His best-known dialogues are the Republic, which concerns the just state, and the Symposium, which concerns the nature of love.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.