Democritus

[ dih-mok-ri-tuhs ]

noun

1. the Laughing Philosopher, c460–370 b.c., Greek philosopher.

Democritus

/ dɪˈmɒkrɪtəs /

noun

1. Democritus?460 bc?370 bcMGreekPHILOSOPHY: philosopher ?460–?370 bc , Greek philosopher who developed the atomist theory of matter of his teacher, Leucippus See also atomism

Democritus

/ dĭ-mŏk′rĭ-təs /

1. Greek philosopher who developed one of the first atomist theories of the universe. Democritus believed that the world consists of an infinite number of very small particles whose different characteristics and combinations account for the different qualities of all matter.

Example Sentences

Long ago two ancient Greek savants, Democritus and Leucippus, argued that matter consists of atoms, a notion that would be confirmed more than two millennia later.

From Scientific American

She begins in the 5th century B.C., when Democritus formulated his atomism, locating the ultimate nature of things in matter rather than divinity.

From Washington Post

A Greek philosopher, Democritus, put forward the idea in the fifth century that the world was made up of indivisible particles which he called atoms.

From BBC

As Democritus put it, ‘By convention sweet, by convention bitter, by convention hot, by convention cold, by convention colour: but in reality atoms and void.’

From Literature

Humans have been aware of rabies at least since Democritus, in the fifth century B.C.

From New York Times