Entelechy
/ˈɛn.tə.ki/noun
The realization of a thing’s potential or the principle that directs an entity toward its complete development.
Did you know?Aristotle used entelechy to describe the soul as the actuality of a living body—not a ghost inside you, but the organizing principle that makes life fully itself.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*telh₂-
“To bear, support, accomplish, or bring to completion; a proposed ancestral root connected with Greek ideas of fulfillment.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
τέλος (telos)
“End, completion, goal, or fulfillment.”
4th Century BCE
Ancient Greek
ἐντελέχεια (entelecheia)
“Actuality or realized completion; Aristotle’s term for the principle by which something fulfills its inherent potential.”
Latin Scholasticism
Latin
entelechia
“A philosophical term for actuality, vital principle, or complete realization.”
17th Century
English
entelechy
“A philosophical principle of development or self-realization.”
Modern English
English
entelechy
“The fulfillment of an entity’s inherent potential or purpose.”