ataraxia

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See also: ataràxia

English

WOTD – 1 April 2012

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀταραξία (ataraxía), ἀ- (a-, “negative prefix”) + ταράσσω (tarássō, “trouble, disturb”). Doublet of ataraxy.

Pronunciation

Noun

ataraxia (usually uncountable, plural ataraxias)

  1. (literary, Greek philosophy) Tranquility of mind; absence of mental disturbance.
    Synonyms: peace of mind, ataraxy
    • 1665, Joseph Glanvill, chapter XXVII, in Scepsis Scientifica: Or, Confest Ignorance, the Way to Science; in an Essay of the Vanity of Dogmatizing, and Confident Opinion with a Reply to the Exceptions of the Learned Thomas Albius‎, London: E. Cotes, page 168:
      And what happineſs is there in a ſtorm of paſſions? On this account the Scepticks affected an indifferent æquipondious neutrality as the only means to their Ataraxia, and freedom from paßionate diſturbances.
    • 1838, Piomingo, John Robinson, The Savage‎, 2nd edition, Philadelphia: J. Ferral, →OCLC, →OL, page 194:
      O, for that apathy of soul, that sweet ataraxia, of which I have heard, which forbids alike the approaches of pleasure and pain, hope and despair!
    • 1921, J.E. Crawford Flitch, transl., The Tragic Sense Of Life‎, translation of Del sentimiento trágico de la vida by Miguel de Unamuno:
      That terrible Latin poet Lucretius, whose apparent serenity and Epicurean ataraxia conceal so much despair, said that piety consists in the power to contemplate all things with a serene soul—pacata posse mente omnia tueri.
    • 2006, Robert Harris, Imperium‎, London: Arrow Books, Part 2, Chapter 15, p. 400:
      […] he was an Epicurean not in the commonly misunderstood sense, as a seeker after luxury, but in the true meaning, as a pursuer of what the Greeks call ataraxia, or freedom from disturbance.

Related terms

Translations

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Further reading

Basque

Etymology

Ancient Greek ἀταραξία (ataraxía).

Noun

ataraxia inan

  1. ataraxia

Portuguese

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀταραξία (ataraxía).

Pronunciation

 

  • Hyphenation: a‧ta‧ra‧xi‧a

Noun

ataraxia f (plural ataraxias)

  1. ataraxia

Romanian

Pronunciation

Noun

ataraxia f

  1. definite nominative singular of ataraxie: the ataraxia
  2. definite accusative singular of ataraxie: the ataraxia

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀταραξία (ataraxía).

Noun

ataraxia f (plural ataraxias)

  1. ataraxia

Further reading

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