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Definition of pythagorean - 5 dictionary results

Py⋅thag⋅o⋅re⋅an

  [pi-thag-uh-ree-uhn]
Use pythagorean in a Sentence
–adjective
1. of or pertaining to Pythagoras, to his school, or to his doctrines.
–noun
2. a follower of Pythagoras.
Origin:
1540–50; < L Pȳthagorē(us) (< Gk Pȳthagóreios of Pythagoras) + -an
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Py·thag·o·re·an·ism   (pĭ-thāg'ə-rē'ə-nĭz'əm)   
n.  The syncretistic philosophy expounded by Pythagoras, distinguished chiefly by its description of reality in terms of arithmetical relationships.
Py·thag'o·re'an adj. & n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Pythagorean

Pyth`a*go"re*an\, a. [L. Pythagoreus, Gr. ?.] Of or pertaining to Pythagoras (a Greek philosopher, born about 582 b. c.), or his philosophy.

The central thought of the Pythagorean philosophy is the idea of number, the recognition of the numerical and mathematical relations of things. --Encyc. Brit.

Pythagorean proposition (Geom.), the theorem that the square described upon the hypothenuse of a plane right-angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares described upon the other two sides.

Pythagorean system (Astron.), the commonly received system of astronomy, first taught by Pythagoras, and afterward revived by Copernicus, whence it is also called the Copernican system.

Pythagorean letter. See Y.

Pythagorean

Pyth`a*go"re*an\, n. A follower of Pythagoras; one of the school of philosophers founded by Pythagoras.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Pythagorean 
1550, from L. Pythagoreus "of or pertaining to Pythagoras," Gk. philosopher of Samos (6c. B.C.E.), whose teachings included transmigration of the soul and vegetarianism (these are some of the commonest early allusions in Eng.). The Pythagorean theorem is the 47th of the first book of Euclid.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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