Word of the Week - AESTHETIC

Today's word – AESTHETIC

Pronunciation – es-thet-ik

Word type - adjective

Definition – pertaining to a sense of beauty; concerned with emotion rather than intellect

Word type - noun

Definition - the philosophical idea or theory of what is beautiful at a specific time and place, especially in art

Alternative spelling - esthetic

Word origin-
The word is derived from the Greek, aisthetikos, the adjective derived from the noun, aisthanesthai, meaning perception. It came to Europe as modern Latin and was first used by German philosopher, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), in a discussion of the perceptual. In 1750, Baumgarten used the term in a discussion of beauty.

Quirky facts -

"Anaesthetic" is derived by a combination of "an" - without + "aisthesis" - perception/sensation

"Synesthesia" is derived by a combination of "syn" - together + "aisthesis" - perception to describe the sensation of one sense organ performing the function of another sense organ. eg. the ability to see sound as a colour or hear sounds in response to smell

Sample sentence - The painting had an aesthetic appeal beyond all other paintings I viewed that evening. (used as an adjective)

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