Hello hello, you audiophiles! And a warm welcome to An Assemblage of Grandiose and Bombastic Grandiloquents. Today’s word is a delightful little Greek nugget, that may even define you yourself, cheery listener! Today we are talking about ‘sophphophilia’.
Sophophilia is defined as a person who loves seeking wisdom and knowledge. It certainly applies to me! The etymology is beautifully simple - from the ‘sophose’ meaning wise or wisdom, and ‘philia’, meaning love. Thus - ‘wisdom love’, or a love of wisdom!
Sophophilic comes from the Greek ‘philomath’ where ‘philos’ is translated as beloved, or loving, and ‘math’ is ‘to learn’. Therefore, philomath becomes a lover of learning and studying. Philomathy is similar to philosophy, but where ‘math’ represents learning, and the acquisition thereof, ‘soph’ specifies wisdom. Are you with me? I said it was simple!
Now, did you know that the Philomaths was a secret Polish student organisation that existed between 1817 and 1823 at the Imperial University of Vilnius? It was a cross between a freemason organisation and a learned society, with two facets: scientific-mathematic and literary. Benjamin Franklin also used ‘philomath’ as a pen name. My, how words get around!
So while you ponder whether or not you may consider yourself a sophophile, you may also consider whether you are an epistemophile, someone with a love of knowledge, a philosophile, someone with a love of learning and philosophy, or even a gnosticist, someone who believes that freedom derives solely from knowledge! There is a word out there to describe the learner and lover in all of us!
Isn’t language wonderful?
