Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Esthetics |
EstheticsNoun1. The branch of philosophy dealing with beauty and taste (emphasizing the evaluative criteria that are applied to art); "traditional aesthetics assumed the existence of universal and timeless criteria of artistic value". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "esthetics" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1916. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Aesthetics (or esthetics) is a branch of philosophy dealing with the definition of beauty. It is particularly important to the study of the individual's moral core, which is formed by epigenetics and examples through his or her lifetime, but has a common human foundation explored in cognitive science, anthropology and primatology.
The word aesthetics was first used by German philosopher Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, who helped to establish the study of aesthetics as a separate philisophical field of study.
This study is well-developed in theology, e.g. "water, greenery, and a beautiful face" were identified by Muhammad, founder and Prophet of Islam, as the key things that any person could differentiate from the background.
Since actions or behavior can be said to have beauty beyond sensory appeal, aesthetics and ethics often overlap to the degree that this impression is embodied in a moral code or ethical code.
The word aesthetic can be used as a noun meaning "that which appeals to the senses." Someone's aesthetic has a lot to do with their artistic judgement. For example, an individual who wears flowered clothing, drives a flowered car, and paints their home with flowers has a particular aesthetic.
Some of the meaning of aesthetic as an adjective can be illuminated by comparing it to anaesthetic, which is by construction an antonym of aesthetic. If something is anaesthetic, it tends to dull the senses or cause sleepiness. In contrast, aesthetic may be thought of as anything that tends to enliven or invigorate or wake one up.
This illumination is imperfect in that anaesthetic is not an exact antonym of aesthetic. In common usage, anaesthetic refers to a dulling that is physical in its focus, while aesthetic is more commonly used to describe a mental or intellectual awakening or stimulation.
See also morality, ethics. Compare surrealist automatism.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Aesthetics."
Synonym: EstheticsSynonym: aesthetics (n). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Esthetics |
| Specialty definitions using "esthetics": dental restoration, dentofacial harmony. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | New office furniture designs, even seats, stress ergonomics; i.e., balance between esthetics and physical comfort. (references) | |
Companies in this market segment do not resort to the services of an architect and endeavor to buy the bare essentials, without much regard for esthetics. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "esthetics"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Chinese | 美学 (AEsthetics). (various references) | |
Finnish | estetiikka. (various references) | |
German | ästhetik (aesthetic, aesthetics). (various references) | |
Hungarian | esztétika (aesthetics). (various references) | |
Italian | estetica (aesthetics). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 美学 , 美学 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | びがく. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | estheticsay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | estética (aesthetics). (various references) | |
Russian | эстетика (aesthetics). (various references) | |
Spanish | estética (aesthetics). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | естетика (aesthetics). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words ending with "esthetics": aesthetics, anaesthetics, anesthetics, preanesthetics. (additional references) | |
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"Esthetics" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: astetics, asthetics, Entheticus, estethic, estethics, estetic, estetics, esthenic, estheticise, Eztetyke, Festetics, sthetic, sthetics. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: chestiest. | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-e-h-i-s-s-t-t" | |
-1 letter: esthetic, stitches, techiest. | |
-2 letters: hessite, seiches, techies, theists. | |
-3 letters: chests, ecesis, etches, ethics, heists, itches, schist, seiche, sestet, sheets, shiest, stichs, stitch, techie, testes, testis, theist, theses, thesis, thetic, tithes, tsetse. | |
-4 letters: cesti, cetes, chess, chest, chits, cists, cites, eches, ethic, heist, hests, hists, sects, seise, setts, sheet, shies, shist, sices, sites, stets, stich. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-e-h-i-s-s-t-t" | |
+1 letter: aesthetics, restitches, sketchiest, stenchiest, tetchiness. | |
+2 letters: anesthetics, chemisettes, estheticism, hemstitches, stitcheries, stretchiest, synesthetic. | |
+3 letters: aestheticism, anaesthetics, chastisement, chattinesses, cuttlefishes, estheticians, estheticisms, hemstitchers, pheneticists, tetchinesses, tracheitises. | |
+4 letters: aestheticians, aestheticisms, aestheticizes, chastisements, crotchetiness, semisynthetic, theocentrisms. | |
+5 letters: chrestomathies, coquettishness, ethnocentrisms, hysterectomies, preanesthetics, thermochemists, tracheostomies. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Non-fiction 6. Expressions: Internet 7. Translations: Modern 8. Derivations | 9. Anagrams 10. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
