philosophicadj.

Etymology: < Middle French, French philosophique of or relating to philosophy (in its medieval sense; compare note at sense 1a) (end of the 14th cent.), characteristic of or befitting a philosopher, stoical, calm (1580 in Montaigne) and its etymon post-classical Latin philosophicus of or relating to philosophers or philosophy (late 2nd cent. in Tertullian) < Hellenistic Greek ϕιλοσοϕικός < ancient Greek ϕιλοσοϕία philosophy n. + -ικός -ic suffix. Sense 1b has no exact parallel in French until much later (1798 in sense ‘experimental’, in a medical context; now obsolete in this sense), but compare Middle French, French philosophique relating to alchemy (14th cent.; now obsolete in this sense), relating to the humanities (as opposed to theology) (1588). Sense 3 is not paralleled in French until later (beginning of the 18th cent., e.g. in esprit philosophique ). Compare Spanish filosófico (late 14th cent. or earlier), Portuguese filosófico (a1566 as philosophico ), Italian filosofico (1308), and also German philosophisch (1531). Compare slightly earlier philosophical adj.With philosophic stone n. at Compounds compare earlier philosophical stone n. at philosophical adj. and n. Compounds, philosophers' stone n. 1. Many pronouncing dictionaries until about the middle of the 19th cent. record pronunciations with voiced fricative /-z-/; the modern pronunciation is due to the learned character of the word and the analogy of philosophy n.