Voltaire
François Marie Arouet, 1694–1778, French philosopher, historian, satirist, dramatist, and essayist.
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Other words from Voltaire
- Vol·tair·e·an, Vol·tair·i·an, adjective, noun
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use Voltaire in a sentence
Several centuries ago, Voltaire declared that a dog is man’s best friend.
Fox & I Is an Unnerving Memoir About Wildlife and Friendship | Annabel Gutterman | June 24, 2021 | TimeVoltaire mocked Leibniz for suggesting that we live in the best of all possible worlds, but Barbour shares Leibniz’s view.
That Émilie du Châtelet was a party-girl who slept with Voltaire and had a knack for translation.
A century later, the early intellectual dominance of this tiny region inspired France’s Voltaire to write, “we look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilization.”
Martin Luther Rewired Your Brain - Issue 96: Rewired | Joseph Henrich | February 17, 2021 | NautilusIf this is the age of quantum reason, then Baggott is its Voltaire.
Your Guide to the Many Meanings of Quantum Mechanics - Facts So Romantic | Sabine Hossenfelder | September 3, 2020 | Nautilus
Tend to your own garden, to quote the great sage of free speech, Voltaire, and invite people to follow your example.
He had read Rousseau, Voltaire, and other thinkers in French society.
“Common sense is not so common,” Voltaire proclaimed three centuries ago.
Leibniz (185) and Voltaire (170) also performed well, but others gave a lackluster showing.
But she was quoting Rousseau and Voltaire in her letters when she was only 16, before she ever met the doctor.
The Danes’ Royal Drama Gets Its Hollywood Moment | Stephen Farber | November 10, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThese short studies reflect every phase of Voltaire's sparkling genius.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10) | Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)Voltaire exerted himself as warmly against this infamous act, as he had against the execution of Calas.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellThus Voltaire, for a mistaken purpose and with ill-judged passion, frequently cast the light of his mind on historical prejudices.
Catherine de' Medici | Honore de BalzacVoltaire lived from 1755 to 1758 at les Dlices near Geneva, and within Genevan territory.
Private Letters of Edward Gibbon (1753-1794) Volume 1 (of 2) | Edward GibbonThen he smiled grimly, thinking of Voltaire's cruel epigram—that "letters addressed to posterity seldom reach their destination!"
Love's Pilgrimage | Upton Sinclair
British Dictionary definitions for Voltaire
/ (vɒlˈtɛə, vəʊl-, French vɔltɛr) /
pseudonym of François Marie Arouet. 1694–1778, French writer, whose outspoken belief in religious, political, and social liberty made him the embodiment of the 18th-century Enlightenment. His major works include Lettres philosophiques (1734) and the satire Candide (1759). He also wrote plays, such as Zaïre (1732), poems, and scientific studies. He suffered several periods of banishment for his radical views
Derived forms of Voltaire
- Voltairean or Voltairian, adjective, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for Voltaire
[ (vohl-tair, vol-tair) ]
The nom de plume of François Arouet, an eighteenth-century French philosopher and author and a major figure of the Enlightenment. Voltaire was known as a wit and freethinker. The most famous of his works is Candide.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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