Tho·reau  (thə-rō', thôr'ō)  American writer. A seminal figure in the history of American thought, he spent much of his life in Concord, Massachusetts, where he became associated with the New England transcendentalists and lived for two years on the shore of Walden Pond (1845-1847). His works include "Civil Disobedience" (1849) and Walden (1854). Tho·reau'vi·an (-vē-ən) adj. |
A nineteenth-century American author and proponent of transcendentalism. Thoreau was a strong advocate of individual rights and an opponent of social conformity. His best-known works are the book Walden and the essay “Civil Disobedience.”