theoreticn.adj.

Brit.

/θɪəˈrɛtɪk/,

/ˌθiːəˈrɛtɪk/, U.S.

/ˌθiəˈrɛdɪk/,

/θɪˈrɛdɪk/

Forms: 1600s theoreticke, 1600s theoretique, 1600s–1700s theoretick, 1600s– theoretic.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin theoretice, theoretica; Latin theoreticus.

Etymology: As noun < post-classical Latin theoretice (5th cent.), theoretica (6th cent.), both denoting speculative philosophy, theoreticus person who possesses only theoretical knowledge (1671 in the passage translated in quot. 1675 at sense A. 2), uses as noun of feminine and masculine of theoreticus, adjective (see below). Compare earlier theoric n. and theory n., and compare also theoretics n. As adjective < post-classical Latin theoreticus contemplative (4th cent.), speculative (6th cent.) < ancient Greek θεωρητικός contemplative, speculative (opposed to πρακτικός ‘practical’ (see practic adj.) by Aristotle; compare sense B. 4) < θεωρητός that may be seen ( < θεωρεῖν to look at, inspect, contemplate (see theorem n.) + -τός , suffix forming verbal adjectives) + -ικός -ic suffix. Compare earlier theoric adj.¹, theorical adj., theoretical adj.With sense B. 5 compare theoria n.¹ 2. In sense B. 6 originally after German theoretisch (1879 or earlier in this sense, as second element of compounds, originally in gruppentheoretisch (see group-theoretical adj. at group theory n. Derivatives); 17th cent. in sense ‘of or relating to theory’).

A. n.

1. Theoretical knowledge; theory. Often opposed to practic, practice. Cf. theoretical adj. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [noun]

theoretic1601

theory?1634

system1650

scheme1675

theoreticals1809

1601 P. Holland in tr. Pliny Hist. World II. sig. Avi^v/1 Theoricke, or Theoretique, contemplative knowledge without action and practise.

1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 57 The Science of things that are, is called Theoretick, of those which pertain to Action Practick.

1761 Philos. Trans. 1760 (Royal Soc.) 51 730 To harmonic, rhythmic, and metric, in the theoretic, respectively answered melopœïa, rhythmopœïa, and poetic, in the practic.

1798 J. O'Keefe Toy v. i. 88 I have learnt in Ireland and Germany, by Tactic, Theoretic and Practic, that there are two ways of doing things.

1865 S. H. Hodgson Time & Space ii. ix. §68. 566 The three functions are conation, cognition, and feeling. The three branches of knowledge founded on these are Technic, Theoretic, and Teleologic.

1984 R. M. Berchman From Philo to Origen i. 27 To present a systematic outline of the theoretic of a thinker as unsystematic as Philo is hazardous.

†2. A person who possesses only theoretical knowledge; a person devoted to contemplation and study, esp. for philosophical or religious purposes. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > [noun] > one who contemplates

Maryc1230

contemplatorc1443

theoric1594

muser1597

meditator1607

contemplant1612

contemplatist1634

theoretic1675

contemplativea1711

meditant1748

ruminator1758

meditatist1860

society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > contemplation or meditation > [noun] > person

contemplativea1425

silentiary1611

contemplant1612

ascetic1673

theoretic1675

theoric1798

transcendental meditator1966

1675 R. Gower tr. F. de Le Boë New Idea Pract. Physic xxxiv. 329 Skilful Practitioners deride such unskilful Censurers, and Theoretics [L. Theoreticos] though very high Pretenders, not only in curing the Sick, but in preparing Remedies.

a1832 J. Bentham Deontology (1834) I. 54 A band of men, whom..he [sc. the Moralist] calls theoretics. These men look..to contemplation alone for the summum bonum.

B. adj. theoretical is now the more common term.

a. Conceptual; involving or consisting of theory. Cf. theoretical adj. 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [adjective]

theoreticala1500

theorica1500

theorical?a1560

inspective1609

theoretic1617

systematic1668

systematical1677

the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [adjective] > as opposed to practical

contemplative1563

paper1616

theoretic1617

considerative1677

theoretical1767

academic1812

moot1831

armchair1858

rocking chair1911

unempirical1934

1617 R. Brathwait tr. ‘B. Multibibus’ (title) A solemne ioviall disputation, theoreticke and practicke [L. theoretico-practica]; briefely shadowing the law of drinking together, with the solemnities and controversies occurring.

1635 N. Campbell Treat. upon Death sig. C4 Naturalists may know, that there is a God in nature..: & this is only a Theoretick knowledge, and it may be without sanctification. But we who are enlightned with the light of grace.., have a practique and saving knowledge.

a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Cornw. 202 Attaining to great perfection in the Theoretick, and practicall parts of those professions.

1758 E. Kimber Life Capt. Neville Frowde ii. 65 I soon reduced my Theoretic Knowledge to Practice.

1830 Athenæum 6 Mar. 139/1 The asserted fact being in direct contradiction of all theoretic deductions and general inferences.

1906 Good Housek. Nov. 467/1 Reports from experience, and theoretic argument.

1995 D. N. Levine Visions Sociol. Trad. x. 223 Theoretic knowledge secured by the methods of modern natural science.

b. Hypothetical; existing chiefly or only in theory rather than in fact.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [adjective] > conditional or hypothetical

conditional1532

connexive1587

hypothetical1588

connex1589

connexed1628

substitutive1656

future contingent1659

hypothetica1680

theoretic1789

conjunctivea1856

counterfactual1946

contrafactual1950

1789 G. Monckton Tour through Part of France App. 75 All that we hold precious in life is to be hazarded for the attainment—of what?—A merely theoretic excellence.

1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. i. ii. 19 Plots which cannot be executed; which are mostly theoretic.

1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xii. 205 Seven years' residence is the theoretic period for a master's degree.

1915 F. W. Taussig Some Aspects Tariff Question xix. 317 This result, though quite within the bounds of theoretic possibility, is not likely in fact to ensue.

2002 Environmental Health Perspectives 110 482/1 There is very little guidance..on how to look upon such low theoretic risks.

a. Of a person: given to or concerned with forming or developing theories; speculative; influenced by theory. Sometimes opposed to practical. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [adjective] > of person: concerned with theory

theoric?1600

theoretical1610

theoretic1641

viewed1641

theorical1650

contemplative1653

theorizing1772

1641 R. Brathwait Ladies Love-lecture ix, in Eng. Gentleman & Eng. Gentlewoman (ed. 3) 446 Wee shall find..For serious searchers of profound secrets in Philosophy, a Theoretick Theano, and a divine Diotima.

1675 R. Gower tr. F. de Le Boë New Idea Pract. Physic xxx. 284 What I have now said..will also be found true..by any Physician that more attends the complaints of the Sick, and Observations of the more accurate Practitioners, then the Fictions of Theoretic Authors [L. Theoreticorum Auctorum].

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Theoreticks The Theoretic Physicians were such as went on the Foot of Reason; in Opposition to the Empirical Physicians, who went wholly on Experience.

1783 P. Pott Chirurg. Wks. (new ed.) II. 435 To which theoretic and whimsical people have assigned this disease.

1837 Morning Post 8 Mar. It had given itself up to the councils of visionary, speculative, and theoretic men.

1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch IV. viii. Finale 359 Distinguished in his side of the county as a theoretic and practical farmer.

1901 Med. Mirror Dec. 653/2 If some..severely theoretic doctor has pronounced your doom.., don't worry.

1946 El Paso (Texas) Herald-Post 27 July 4/5 Our tax laws are in a state of flux..constantly being repaired by the same theoretic expert.

b. Of the mind, faculties, etc.: given to or concerned with forming or developing theories; speculative.

ΚΠ

1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 77. ⁋7 That few men celebrated for theoretic wisdom live with conformity to their precepts, must be readily confessed.

1787 Gentleman's Mag Mar. 132/2 This theoretic wisdom and these flattering prospects.

1812 Pancratia 252 Every requisite that the most theoretic mind could suggest for a pugilist.

1870 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 298 Its passing by an overwhelming majority is a practical comment on the theoretic wisdom of statesmen.

1923 Economist 26 May 1197/2 A group of young men having theoretic minds and a firm belief in the advisability of nationalising all Argentine public services.

1974 H. Slonimsky in J. Neusner Understanding Rabbinic Judaism xi. 181 For philosophy God is an object of knowledge, standing in exactly the same relation to the theoretic faculty as any other object we set out to know.

2001 M. Donald Mind so Rare (2002) 325 Theoretic minds certainly have greater powers of abstraction.

†3. Designating the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of things, as opposed to human conduct or values. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > [adjective]

speculablec1449

speculativea1483

sophical1601

theoretic1656

thinkative1662

sophic1900

1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 58 Of Theoretick Philosophy, one part enquires into things immutable.., and the first causes of things.

1670 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. II iii. vi. 278 Theoretick Philosophie he makes to be that, which regards Truth, and Falshood.

1782 J. Grose Ethics xv. 216 Did religion consist in a bare assent to a set of propositions like theoretic philosophy, it might be dispensed with;—but this is not the case.

4. Characterized by contemplation and the pursuit of understanding and insight into the nature of things, esp. as distinguished from public or social matters. Cf. contemplative adj. 2. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > [adjective]

thoughtfulc1175

contemplative1340

considerativec1449

musing1449

studient1532

pondering1566

contemplatory1576

speculative1578

considerate1581

reflective1581

theorical1594

theoric?1600

theoretical1608

meditative1611

thoughtsome1627

reflexive1630

reflecting1632

revolutive1637

cogitativea1639

thoughtive1654

lucubratory1656

thinkful1668

theoretic1701

ruminatinga1704

reflectious1715

ruminative1774

thinking1799

meditative1831

ruminant1849

meditational1864

penseful1865

1701 W. Anstruther Ess., Moral & Divine iii. 106 The Scripture doth mention several degrees of Faith: as in some it inheres in the mind, in a Theoretick and contemplative manner.

1797 J. Gillies in tr. Aristotle Ethics & Politics II. p. xxxii Each member of the Platonic fraternity endeavoured to surpass his brethren by new and bolder discoveries..; and virtues then undiscovered in the schools; theoretic, theurgic, soul-purifying, contemplative, and divine.

1825 Christian Remembrancer Aug. 484 If man was designed to be merely a contemplative being, and a theoretic life was the perfection of his happiness, then might he dispense with the cultivation of his active principles.

1888 Platonist Feb. 74 The disposition based on the contemplative or theoretic virtues.

1907 Hibbert Jrnl. Oct. 117 In Aristotle we find the affirmation of the superior value..of the ‘theoretic’ or spiritual life to the practical life.

2006 V. Tankha Anc. Greek Philos. iii. 104 The conception and praise of the theoretic life, put into the mouth of Pythagoras.., may not have been his at all.

5. In or with reference to the writings of John Ruskin: relating to the perception of beauty as a moral faculty. Cf. theoria n.¹Contrasted with aesthetic.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > [adjective]

curiousc1380

tasted?1802

aesthetic1812

theoretic1846

well-tasted1911

1846 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters II. 9 The theoretic faculty, is concerned with the moral perception and appreciation of ideas of beauty. And the error respecting it is..calling it Aesthetic, degrading it to a mere operation of sense.

1889–90 Proc. Aristotelian Soc. 1 131 Ruskin..professedly hates æsthetic, and only trusts the theoretic faculty.

2006 J. Smith Charles Darwin & Victorian Visual Culture 130 He frames this condemnation as an aesthetic—or to speak in Ruskinian terms, theoretic—issue.

6. Chiefly Science. As the second element in parasynthetic compounds: of or relating to the theory specified by the first element.Recorded earliest in group-theoretic adj. at group theory n. Derivatives.field-theoretic, game-theoretic, number-theoretic, set-theoretic, etc.: see the first element.

ΚΠ

1893 Amer. Jrnl. Math. 15 50 In the first paragraph the group-theoretic foundations are laid and a method is reached of classifying groups whose order is a power of a prime in distinct ‘types’.

1930 Acta Mathematica 54 81 (heading) A maximal theorem with function-theoretic applications.

1971 E. C. Dade in M. P. Powell & G. Higman Finite Simple Groups viii. 249 To use the minimum of ring-theoretic machinery.

2006 R. Middleton Voicing the Pop. iii. 110 It is just as foolish to ignore the discursive force of this positioning as to fail to engage the deconstructive efforts provided by feminist and race-theoretic critiques.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	theoretic
释义	theoreticn.adj. Brit. /θɪəˈrɛtɪk/, /ˌθiːəˈrɛtɪk/, U.S. /ˌθiəˈrɛdɪk/, /θɪˈrɛdɪk/ Forms: 1600s theoreticke, 1600s theoretique, 1600s–1700s theoretick, 1600s– theoretic. Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin theoretice, theoretica; Latin theoreticus. Etymology: As noun < post-classical Latin theoretice (5th cent.), theoretica (6th cent.), both denoting speculative philosophy, theoreticus person who possesses only theoretical knowledge (1671 in the passage translated in quot. 1675 at sense A. 2), uses as noun of feminine and masculine of theoreticus, adjective (see below). Compare earlier theoric n. and theory n., and compare also theoretics n. As adjective < post-classical Latin theoreticus contemplative (4th cent.), speculative (6th cent.) < ancient Greek θεωρητικός contemplative, speculative (opposed to πρακτικός ‘practical’ (see practic adj.) by Aristotle; compare sense B. 4) < θεωρητός that may be seen ( < θεωρεῖν to look at, inspect, contemplate (see theorem n.) + -τός , suffix forming verbal adjectives) + -ικός -ic suffix. Compare earlier theoric adj.¹, theorical adj., theoretical adj.With sense B. 5 compare theoria n.¹ 2. In sense B. 6 originally after German theoretisch (1879 or earlier in this sense, as second element of compounds, originally in gruppentheoretisch (see group-theoretical adj. at group theory n. Derivatives); 17th cent. in sense ‘of or relating to theory’). A. n. 1. Theoretical knowledge; theory. Often opposed to practic, practice. Cf. theoretical adj. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [noun] theoretic1601 theory?1634 system1650 scheme1675 theoreticals1809 1601 P. Holland in tr. Pliny Hist. World II. sig. Avi^v/1 Theoricke, or Theoretique, contemplative knowledge without action and practise. 1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 57 The Science of things that are, is called Theoretick, of those which pertain to Action Practick. 1761 Philos. Trans. 1760 (Royal Soc.) 51 730 To harmonic, rhythmic, and metric, in the theoretic, respectively answered melopœïa, rhythmopœïa, and poetic, in the practic. 1798 J. O'Keefe Toy v. i. 88 I have learnt in Ireland and Germany, by Tactic, Theoretic and Practic, that there are two ways of doing things. 1865 S. H. Hodgson Time & Space ii. ix. §68. 566 The three functions are conation, cognition, and feeling. The three branches of knowledge founded on these are Technic, Theoretic, and Teleologic. 1984 R. M. Berchman From Philo to Origen i. 27 To present a systematic outline of the theoretic of a thinker as unsystematic as Philo is hazardous. †2. A person who possesses only theoretical knowledge; a person devoted to contemplation and study, esp. for philosophical or religious purposes. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > [noun] > one who contemplates Maryc1230 contemplatorc1443 theoric1594 muser1597 meditator1607 contemplant1612 contemplatist1634 theoretic1675 contemplativea1711 meditant1748 ruminator1758 meditatist1860 society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > contemplation or meditation > [noun] > person contemplativea1425 silentiary1611 contemplant1612 ascetic1673 theoretic1675 theoric1798 transcendental meditator1966 1675 R. Gower tr. F. de Le Boë New Idea Pract. Physic xxxiv. 329 Skilful Practitioners deride such unskilful Censurers, and Theoretics [L. Theoreticos] though very high Pretenders, not only in curing the Sick, but in preparing Remedies. a1832 J. Bentham Deontology (1834) I. 54 A band of men, whom..he [sc. the Moralist] calls theoretics. These men look..to contemplation alone for the summum bonum. B. adj. theoretical is now the more common term. 1. a. Conceptual; involving or consisting of theory. Cf. theoretical adj. 1a. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [adjective] theoreticala1500 theorica1500 theorical?a1560 inspective1609 theoretic1617 systematic1668 systematical1677 the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [adjective] > as opposed to practical contemplative1563 paper1616 theoretic1617 considerative1677 theoretical1767 academic1812 moot1831 armchair1858 rocking chair1911 unempirical1934 1617 R. Brathwait tr. ‘B. Multibibus’ (title) A solemne ioviall disputation, theoreticke and practicke [L. theoretico-practica]; briefely shadowing the law of drinking together, with the solemnities and controversies occurring. 1635 N. Campbell Treat. upon Death sig. C4 Naturalists may know, that there is a God in nature..: & this is only a Theoretick knowledge, and it may be without sanctification. But we who are enlightned with the light of grace.., have a practique and saving knowledge. a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Cornw. 202 Attaining to great perfection in the Theoretick, and practicall parts of those professions. 1758 E. Kimber Life Capt. Neville Frowde ii. 65 I soon reduced my Theoretic Knowledge to Practice. 1830 Athenæum 6 Mar. 139/1 The asserted fact being in direct contradiction of all theoretic deductions and general inferences. 1906 Good Housek. Nov. 467/1 Reports from experience, and theoretic argument. 1995 D. N. Levine Visions Sociol. Trad. x. 223 Theoretic knowledge secured by the methods of modern natural science. b. Hypothetical; existing chiefly or only in theory rather than in fact. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [adjective] > conditional or hypothetical conditional1532 connexive1587 hypothetical1588 connex1589 connexed1628 substitutive1656 future contingent1659 hypothetica1680 theoretic1789 conjunctivea1856 counterfactual1946 contrafactual1950 1789 G. Monckton Tour through Part of France App. 75 All that we hold precious in life is to be hazarded for the attainment—of what?—A merely theoretic excellence. 1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. i. ii. 19 Plots which cannot be executed; which are mostly theoretic. 1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xii. 205 Seven years' residence is the theoretic period for a master's degree. 1915 F. W. Taussig Some Aspects Tariff Question xix. 317 This result, though quite within the bounds of theoretic possibility, is not likely in fact to ensue. 2002 Environmental Health Perspectives 110 482/1 There is very little guidance..on how to look upon such low theoretic risks. 2. a. Of a person: given to or concerned with forming or developing theories; speculative; influenced by theory. Sometimes opposed to practical. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [adjective] > of person: concerned with theory theoric?1600 theoretical1610 theoretic1641 viewed1641 theorical1650 contemplative1653 theorizing1772 1641 R. Brathwait Ladies Love-lecture ix, in Eng. Gentleman & Eng. Gentlewoman (ed. 3) 446 Wee shall find..For serious searchers of profound secrets in Philosophy, a Theoretick Theano, and a divine Diotima. 1675 R. Gower tr. F. de Le Boë New Idea Pract. Physic xxx. 284 What I have now said..will also be found true..by any Physician that more attends the complaints of the Sick, and Observations of the more accurate Practitioners, then the Fictions of Theoretic Authors [L. Theoreticorum Auctorum]. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Theoreticks The Theoretic Physicians were such as went on the Foot of Reason; in Opposition to the Empirical Physicians, who went wholly on Experience. 1783 P. Pott Chirurg. Wks. (new ed.) II. 435 To which theoretic and whimsical people have assigned this disease. 1837 Morning Post 8 Mar. It had given itself up to the councils of visionary, speculative, and theoretic men. 1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch IV. viii. Finale 359 Distinguished in his side of the county as a theoretic and practical farmer. 1901 Med. Mirror Dec. 653/2 If some..severely theoretic doctor has pronounced your doom.., don't worry. 1946 El Paso (Texas) Herald-Post 27 July 4/5 Our tax laws are in a state of flux..constantly being repaired by the same theoretic expert. b. Of the mind, faculties, etc.: given to or concerned with forming or developing theories; speculative. ΚΠ 1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 77. ⁋7 That few men celebrated for theoretic wisdom live with conformity to their precepts, must be readily confessed. 1787 Gentleman's Mag Mar. 132/2 This theoretic wisdom and these flattering prospects. 1812 Pancratia 252 Every requisite that the most theoretic mind could suggest for a pugilist. 1870 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 298 Its passing by an overwhelming majority is a practical comment on the theoretic wisdom of statesmen. 1923 Economist 26 May 1197/2 A group of young men having theoretic minds and a firm belief in the advisability of nationalising all Argentine public services. 1974 H. Slonimsky in J. Neusner Understanding Rabbinic Judaism xi. 181 For philosophy God is an object of knowledge, standing in exactly the same relation to the theoretic faculty as any other object we set out to know. 2001 M. Donald Mind so Rare (2002) 325 Theoretic minds certainly have greater powers of abstraction. †3. Designating the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of things, as opposed to human conduct or values. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > [adjective] speculablec1449 speculativea1483 sophical1601 theoretic1656 thinkative1662 sophic1900 1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 58 Of Theoretick Philosophy, one part enquires into things immutable.., and the first causes of things. 1670 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. II iii. vi. 278 Theoretick Philosophie he makes to be that, which regards Truth, and Falshood. 1782 J. Grose Ethics xv. 216 Did religion consist in a bare assent to a set of propositions like theoretic philosophy, it might be dispensed with;—but this is not the case. 4. Characterized by contemplation and the pursuit of understanding and insight into the nature of things, esp. as distinguished from public or social matters. Cf. contemplative adj. 2. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > [adjective] thoughtfulc1175 contemplative1340 considerativec1449 musing1449 studient1532 pondering1566 contemplatory1576 speculative1578 considerate1581 reflective1581 theorical1594 theoric?1600 theoretical1608 meditative1611 thoughtsome1627 reflexive1630 reflecting1632 revolutive1637 cogitativea1639 thoughtive1654 lucubratory1656 thinkful1668 theoretic1701 ruminatinga1704 reflectious1715 ruminative1774 thinking1799 meditative1831 ruminant1849 meditational1864 penseful1865 1701 W. Anstruther Ess., Moral & Divine iii. 106 The Scripture doth mention several degrees of Faith: as in some it inheres in the mind, in a Theoretick and contemplative manner. 1797 J. Gillies in tr. Aristotle Ethics & Politics II. p. xxxii Each member of the Platonic fraternity endeavoured to surpass his brethren by new and bolder discoveries..; and virtues then undiscovered in the schools; theoretic, theurgic, soul-purifying, contemplative, and divine. 1825 Christian Remembrancer Aug. 484 If man was designed to be merely a contemplative being, and a theoretic life was the perfection of his happiness, then might he dispense with the cultivation of his active principles. 1888 Platonist Feb. 74 The disposition based on the contemplative or theoretic virtues. 1907 Hibbert Jrnl. Oct. 117 In Aristotle we find the affirmation of the superior value..of the ‘theoretic’ or spiritual life to the practical life. 2006 V. Tankha Anc. Greek Philos. iii. 104 The conception and praise of the theoretic life, put into the mouth of Pythagoras.., may not have been his at all. 5. In or with reference to the writings of John Ruskin: relating to the perception of beauty as a moral faculty. Cf. theoria n.¹Contrasted with aesthetic. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > [adjective] curiousc1380 tasted?1802 aesthetic1812 theoretic1846 well-tasted1911 1846 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters II. 9 The theoretic faculty, is concerned with the moral perception and appreciation of ideas of beauty. And the error respecting it is..calling it Aesthetic, degrading it to a mere operation of sense. 1889–90 Proc. Aristotelian Soc. 1 131 Ruskin..professedly hates æsthetic, and only trusts the theoretic faculty. 2006 J. Smith Charles Darwin & Victorian Visual Culture 130 He frames this condemnation as an aesthetic—or to speak in Ruskinian terms, theoretic—issue. 6. Chiefly Science. As the second element in parasynthetic compounds: of or relating to the theory specified by the first element.Recorded earliest in group-theoretic adj. at group theory n. Derivatives.field-theoretic, game-theoretic, number-theoretic, set-theoretic, etc.: see the first element. ΚΠ 1893 Amer. Jrnl. Math. 15 50 In the first paragraph the group-theoretic foundations are laid and a method is reached of classifying groups whose order is a power of a prime in distinct ‘types’. 1930 Acta Mathematica 54 81 (heading) A maximal theorem with function-theoretic applications. 1971 E. C. Dade in M. P. Powell & G. Higman Finite Simple Groups viii. 249 To use the minimum of ring-theoretic machinery. 2006 R. Middleton Voicing the Pop. iii. 110 It is just as foolish to ignore the discursive force of this positioning as to fail to engage the deconstructive efforts provided by feminist and race-theoretic critiques. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.adj.1601
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