Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun One of an ancient sect of Hindu ascetics who wore little or no clothing and were devoted to mystical contemplation.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One of a sect of ancient Hindu philosophers who lived solitarily in the woods, wore little clothing, ate no flesh, renounced all bodily pleasures, and addicted themselves to mystical contemplation: so called by Greek writers.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One of a sect of philosophers, said to have been found in India by Alexander the Great, who went almost naked, denied themselves the use of flesh, renounced bodily pleasures, and employed themselves in the contemplation of nature.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun One of a school of ancient Indian
ascetic philosophers , reported in antiquity, who wore little clothing; amystic .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun member of a Hindu sect practicing gymnosophy (especially nudism)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Then the gymnosophist asked, “What are you doing?” and Alexander said, “I am conquering the world.”
Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » Devdutt Pattanaik: East vs. West 2009
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As that gymnosophist in [1571] Plutarch made answer to Alexander
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“Not so, O king,” replied the gymnosophist, “unless you said falsely that he should die first who made the worst answer.”
The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans Plutarch 2003
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But there is this about some women, which overtops the best gymnosophist among men, that they suffice to themselves, and can walk in a high and cold zone without the countenance of any trousered being.
An Inland Voyage 1878
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But there is this about some women, which overtops the best gymnosophist among men, that they suffice to themselves, and can walk in a high and cold zone without the countenance of any trousered being.
An Inland Voyage Robert Louis Stevenson 1872
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But there is this about some women, which overtops the best gymnosophist among men, that they suffice themselves, and can walk in a high and cold zone without the countenance of any trousered being.
The Pocket R.L.S., being favourite passages from the works of Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson 1872
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You listen and listen for some noise to break the silence, till you grow half mesmerised by the intensity of the strain; your sense of your own identity is troubled; your brain reels, like that of some gymnosophist poring on his own nose in Asiatic jungles; and should you see your own outspread feet, you see them, not as anything of yours, but as a feature of the scene around you.
Essays of Travel Robert Louis Stevenson 1872
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But there is this about some women, which overtops the best gymnosophist among men, that they suffice to themselves, and can walk in a high and cold zone without the countenance of any trousered being.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 1 (of 25) Robert Louis Stevenson 1872
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As Walter lay awake for a few quiet moments before he sent his thoughts to rest, he glanced critically, like an Indian gymnosophist, over the occurrences of the day.
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[691-1] Pilpay is supposed to have been a Brahmin gymnosophist, and to have lived several centuries before Christ.
Familiar Quotations A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature John Bartlett 1862
yarb commented on the word gymnosophist
These wandering priests are at present known in Africa by the name of Marabut. The first gymnosophists of Ethiopia most probably were nothing more.
- Smollett, note on his translation of Lesage's The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, bk 5 ch. 1
September 19, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word gymnosophist
Lit. "naked expert".
April 18, 2011