This week's theme
Eponyms

This week's words
solon
mazarine
platonic
tontine
malthusian

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(pluh-TON-ik, play-)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Relating to Plato or his ideas.
2. Relating to a love free of sensual desire.
3. Confined to words or theories, and not leading to action.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Greek philosopher Plato (c. 400 BCE). Earliest documented use: 1533.

USAGE:

"In trendier circles, the French two-cheek kiss has become the greeting of choice. The two-cheeker happens very quickly and therefore requires a great deal of precision and lip-cheek coordination. For this reason, it's not uncommon, when hopping from one cheek to the other, to wind up planting one on your co-kissee's neck or worse, an earlobe. Then suddenly your platonic gesture is transformed into a strangely intimate moment (particularly baffling if the kissee is, say, your mother-in-law)."
Lianne George; Have a Merry Christmas Kiss; Maclean's (Toronto, Canada); Dec 27, 2004.

"In a rare personal reference, Legrain spoke of the impact of his medical practice on his views: '... living in permanent contact with these victims, I began to understand that the time was no longer appropriate for these platonic efforts that consist of blustering at every turn against the modern scourge.'"
Patricia Prestwich; Paul-Maurice Legrain (1860-1939); Addiction (Abingdon, UK); Oct 1997.

See more usage examples of platonic in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: