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St. Augustine

St. Augustine

9.9
An early Christian bishop and writer whose ideas shaped Western Christianity
  • proper noun
  • /seɪnt ɔːˈɡʌstɪn/
translation icon : San Agustín
  • Many students of philosophy study the works of St. Augustine to understand his views on the human condition.

Examples

  • St. Augustine wrote extensively about the nature of sin and grace in the early Christian church.

  • For example, Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Baruch Spinoza, and G.W. Leibniz all in quite different ways sought to gain knowledge of the nature of things.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The teachings of St. Augustine have had a lasting impact on Christian theology around the world.

Synonyms

Augustine
vsSt. Augustine
64 8.8

An early Christian bishop and writer who taught about God and the need for grace

is the same historical figure but named with a religious honorific
Augustine of Hippo
vsSt. Augustine
8.2

An early Christian church leader and writer who influences Western Christianity and teaches the need for God's help

is the same figure but named with a religious honorific instead of a locative title
Saint Augustine
vsSt. Augustine
7.5

An early Christian bishop whose ideas and writings shaped later Western Christianity

is the same figure but uses an abbreviated religious honorific form

Surface Forms

St. Augustine main

Morphology

St. + Augustine

This is a compositional proper name: 'St.' is understood as 'Saint' and 'Augustine' is a personal name, so a learner who knows those constituents can infer it refers to a saint named Augustine (a religious/historical figure). Detailed biographical information (dates, bishop of Hippo, theological influence) is not derivable from the parts, but the basic referential meaning is directly predictable from the constituents.

Etymology

St. Augustine refers to Augustine of Hippo, a bishop and writer who lived in the 300s and 400s and wrote about sin, faith and God's love. His important ideas made him a 'saint', which is why churches and places use his name.