Emersonian
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˌɛmərˈsoʊniən/
- Literature
- After studying philosophy, she identified as an Emersonian, valuing personal intuition and independence over conformity.
Examples
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As an Emersonian, he believed that each person has the potential to think for themselves and contribute uniquely to society.
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The quest for origins too often has led into the Emersonian never-never land of transparency or some reified notion of primitivism; the essence of American art does not.
Academic text (2001) -
Almost back to Emersonian America of self-reliance.
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Little capitals of Emersonian America scattered from sea to shining sea.
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A new editor was brought in, one with a deep respect for the publication's history, as well as a desire to follow the Emersonian precedent and shake things up a bit.
Academic text (2007) -
Contrastingly, if an Emersonian, Millian, or Nietzschean individual tries to live by his own law and measure up to standards he sets only for himself, the same difficulties are not involved.
Academic text (1999) -
Nature becomes virtually synonymous with the sublime, and while "IT" (in the Emersonian sense) may indeed be cosmic, it is not all sweetness and light.
Academic text (2003) -
Most of these pieces are not really essays, at least not in the rarefied Montaignean or Emersonian sense, but rather book reviews, usually of biographies or collections of letters.
Blog text (29) -
American democracy as divine life lived at first hand and as the land of "the dead alive" condemned to life at second hand—all these conflicts are Emersonian.
Academic text (1990) -
Emerson, somewhere in that oblivion, would have been proud of his pupil, although as the original Emersonian he would have had to be prouder of himself for having produced such a wonder, and at the same time rendered anxious by the suspicion that he might have learned something from her.
Academic text (1990)
Synonyms
1
9.9
A person who values spiritual truth over material things
Surface Forms
Morphology
Emersonian = Emerson (transparent) = Emerson + ian
Derived from the proper name 'Emerson' with the nominalizing/adjectival suffix '-ian' to indicate a person who adheres to or is associated with Emerson's ideas, so the formation is clear.
Etymology
Emersonian is formed from the name Emerson and the ending -ian, which means 'a person who follows or belongs to', like a musician is a person who plays music. So an Emersonian is someone who follows Emerson's ideas about individual freedom and a deep connection with nature.