Aesthetics
/ɛsˈθɛt.ɪks/noun
The branch of philosophy concerned with beauty, art, and taste.
Did you know?The word comes from Greek *aisthētikos*, meaning “perceptive by feeling,” and its modern philosophical sense was coined in the 18th century by turning sense-perception into a theory of beauty.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂eydʰ-
“to perceive, notice, or feel”
Ancient Greek
Greek
aisthánesthai
“to perceive by the senses”
Ancient Greek
Greek
aisthētikós
“perceptive, capable of sensation”
18th Century
Latinized Greek
aesthetica
“a philosophy of sensory perception and beauty”
18th Century
German
Ästhetik
“the study of beauty and taste”
18th–19th Century
English
aesthetics
“the philosophical study of beauty, art, and taste”
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