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Glite Dictionary
Thales of Miletus

Thales of Miletus

1 9.7
An early Greek thinker who studied nature and stars and said everything came from water
  • proper noun
: Tales de Mileto
  • Did Thales of Miletus really believe that water is the source of all things?

Examples

  • According to legend, Thales of Miletus predicted a solar eclipse in 585 BC.

  • Many historians regard Thales of Miletus as the founder of scientific inquiry.

  • Thales of Miletus is often credited as the first philosopher in Western history.

  • Many consider Thales of Miletus the first philosopher.

  • Thales of Miletus is often credited as the first philosopher in Western history.

  • According to legend, Thales of Miletus predicted a solar eclipse in 585 BC.

  • Many historians regard Thales of Miletus as the founder of scientific inquiry.

Synonyms

Thales
vsThales of Miletus
1 9.6

An ancient Greek thinker who studied nature and said water made everything

is the same person but uses the fuller name including place

Surface Forms

Thales of Miletus main

Morphology

Thales + of + Miletus

This is a straightforward proper-name construction: 'X of Y' signals a person associated with or originating from a place, so a learner who knows 'Thales', 'of' and 'Miletus' will readily infer 'Thales from Miletus'. The phrase has no idiomatic or metaphorical meaning and the compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common, making it transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Thales of Miletus was an ancient Greek thinker from the town Miletus who tried to explain nature with simple ideas. One popular story says he thought everything came from water and even predicted a solar eclipse, so we remember him as one of the first scientists.