Theophrastus

American  

[thee-uh-fras-tuhs] / ˌθi əˈfræs təs /

noun

1. 372?–287 b.c., Greek philosopher.

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Theophrastus British  

/ ˌθɪəˈfræstəs /

noun

1. ?372–?287 _bc , Greek Peripatetic philosopher, noted esp for his Characters, a collection of sketches of moral types

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Other Word Forms

• Theophrastian adjective

Example Sentences

There goes the ancient philosopher Theophrastus with his taxonomy of social types; there goes the caricaturist William Hogarth, who believed the face to be “the index of the mind.”

From New York Times • Jul. 7, 2020

Nam et sub Caesaris Augusti imperio in Puteolano mari, ut Apion scriptum reliquit, et aliquot saeculis ante apud Naupactum, ut Theophrastus tradidit, amores flagrantissimi delphinorum cogniti compertique sunt.

From Slate • Aug. 30, 2018

“The Unscrupulous Man,” Theophrastus laments, “will go and borrow more money from a creditor he has never paid …” as if we haven’t heard that one before, Bernie Madoff.

From Salon • Oct. 13, 2012

In 1927, he started calling himself “Dr. Theophrastus Seuss” as a joke, and then, the next year, made it simply, Dr. Seuss.

From Washington Post • Mar. 2, 2012

Aulus Gellius tells us that a case of sciatica was cured by gentle modulations, and Theophrastus maintains that the bites of serpents and other venomous reptiles can be relieved by similar means.

From Curiosities of Medical Experience by Millingen, J. G. (John Gideon)