Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
📜 Before Socrates 🤔 An early philosopher
pre-Socratic

pre-Socratic

1 9.9
About thinkers and ideas before Socrates
  • adjective
  • /priː səˈkrætɪk/
: presocrático
  • The pre-Socratic philosophers laid the foundations for Western thought.

Examples

  • Much of pre-Socratic philosophy survives only in fragments and quotations.

  • Thales was one of the first pre-Socratic thinkers.

  • Her research focuses on pre-Socratic theories of the natural world.

  • The pre-Socratic philosophers laid the groundwork for Western thought.

  • Her research focuses on pre-Socratic thinkers and their contributions to natural philosophy.

  • Much of pre-Socratic philosophy helps us understand the origins of Western philosophical thought.

  • The ideas of the pre-Socratic philosophers sparked significant developments in ancient Greek philosophy.

Synonyms

presocratic
vspre-Socratic
  • Specialized
1 9.9

Relating to ancient Greek thinkers who lived before Socrates

is the same meaning but written with a capital letter and a hyphen

Surface Forms

pre-Socratic positive

Morphology

pre-Socratic = Socratic (semi-transparent) = pre + Socrat + ic

The prefix 'pre-' transparently means 'before', but the full adjective is a specialized historical label rather than a purely literal temporal description.

Etymology

Pre-Socratic is made of the part pre- meaning 'before', like in preview, and the name Socrates, so it describes ideas or people from the time 'before' Socrates.