macrobioticsn.
/ˌmakrə(ʊ)bʌɪˈɒtɪks/, U.S. /ˈˌmækroʊbaɪˈɑdɪks/ 1. The science of prolonging life. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > continuance or tenacity of life > [noun] > science of prolonging life
macrobiotics1840
the world > food and drink > food > diet > [noun] > theory
macrobiotics1936
society > faith > worship > cleanness (ceremonial) > purification > [noun] > Zen Buddhist dietary system
macrobiotics1936
1840 T. De Quincey Style: No. III in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 519 The Greek work..on the subject of Macrobiotics.
1936 L. P. Weaver tr. E. B. Székely Cosmos, Man & Society iii. ii. 207 (heading) Macrobiotics, the optimal and omnilateral correlations of longevity.
1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 12 Nov. 1418/3 To clear a way through the thickets of alchemy, Dr Needham proposes new terms for some of its central ideas:..‘macrobiotics’ for the operations designed to produce a ‘drug of deathlessness’.
2. A system, supposedly founded on Zen Buddhist principles, which aims to prolong life by achieving the correct dietary balance (as found especially in brown rice) of yin and yang.
ΚΠ
1956 G. Ohsawa Philos. Oriental Med. iv. 66 Even if you adopt macrobiotics, you may still make the mistake of taking too much food.
1962 New Yorker 25 Aug. 22/1 (heading) Macrobiotics.
1965 W. Dufty You are All Sanpaku 178 Macrobiotics is not the kind of vegetarianism which is merely sentimental.
1969 Listener 17 July 79/3 Macrobiotics is a life science discovered in Japan by Georges Ohsawa and it's based on the two pillars of philosophy and diet—the staple food being brown rice.
1970 M. Spark Driver's Seat 48 Rice, unpolished rice is the basis of macrobiotics... It is a cleansing diet. Physically, mentally and spiritually.
1980 A. Maupin More Tales of City 89 In Mona's eyes, lesbianism had simply been the logical follow-up to macrobiotics and primal screaming.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1840