Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Interpretive; explanatory.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of interpretation or exegesis; explanatory; exegetical: as, hermeneutic theology (that is, the art of expounding the Scriptures).
Wiktionary
- adj. That explains, interprets, illustrates or elucidates
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Unfolding the signification; of or pertaining to interpretation; exegetical; explanatory.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. interpretive or explanatory
Etymologies
- Greek hermēneutikos, from hermēneutēs, interpreter, from hermēneuein, to interpret, from hermēneus, interpreter. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The second type of human/technology relation is what he calls hermeneutic (p. 80).”
Phenomenological Approaches to Ethics and Information Technology
“I am interested in hermeneutic theory, particularly as developed by philosophers such as Hans Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur, with an emphasis in my recent work on how questions of interepretation intersect with questions of ethics.”
“It is a so-called hermeneutic insight and every new such insight is supported by our past observational experience.”
The Idea of Design in Nature: Science or Phenomenology? By Jakob Wolf
“The so-called hermeneutic circle--to understand the whole, you have to grasp the parts, which changes your perception of the whole; to understand a part, you have to grasp the whole, which changes your perception of the part--was not a ceaseless flux.”
“This approach to history may be described as hermeneutic; but it is focused on interpretation of large historical features rather than the interpretation of individual meanings and actions.”
“When the Other is homosexual, the notion of hermeneutic encounter drops from the scene.”
“In his last period Royce embraced what may be called a hermeneutic epistemology.”
“There is this word hermeneutic, which I have used on more than one occasion used in this sentence.”
“As far as the relation to each other of the Jewish and Christian faith-communities is concerned, there is a common frame of reference - a faith-hermeneutic which is profoundly theological, and which is qualitatively removed from comparisons made from an historical or a literary point of view.”
“This "hermeneutic" approach is not interested in discovering causes of social outcomes, but instead in piecing together an interpretation of the meanings of a social outcome or production.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘hermeneutic’.
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G[r]eek
A collection of words found in English that are either purely Greek or have Greek etymology.
Please add with caution and certainty. Will be regularly updated by me.etymology, philosophy, laconic, disharmony, patriarchic, archaic, phlogiston, aether, aeon, angel, arachnid, rhythm and 346 more...
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phrontistery - h
from phrontistery.info
habanera, habergeon, habilable, habilatory, habile, habiliment, habilitate, habromania, hachure, hackle, hackney, hadal and 568 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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nschotten's list
A list of words.
fecundity, atavistic, steatopygous, demiurge, sufflaminandus, occiput, trenchant, hobnails, soft-pedal, parsimony, fatuous, ratiocination and 28 more...
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Potpourri
eponymous, aa, pulchritude, gizmo, macabre, sui generis, solecism, solipsism, eldritch, samizdat, queue, obsequious and 469 more...
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delightful descriptors
petrichor, omphaloskepsis, ouroboros, oneiric, flaneur, saunter, dishabituation, fractalization, eudemony, phosphorescence, holographic, umwelt and 136 more...
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kringlan's Words
fecund, riposte, nebbish, nonpareil, deign, eschew, imbroglio, spelunking, fop, foofaraw, tundra, talon and 128 more...
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Cessilind's Words
dvorak, ingenuity, cessation, oblique, transverse, anvilicious, evoke, verisimilitude, integrity, strega, recumbent, depression and 164 more...
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Niels's Words
bien-pensant, pro re nata, zeitgeist, naïve, quod erat demonst..., dramastic, mélange, amanuensis, heuristic, hermeneutic, gist, gumption and 157 more...
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GREs
supplicate, insidious, hermeneutic, salubrious, perfidious, opprobrium, obviate, vitiate
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bintalshamsa's list
My Favorite Words
weltschmerz, perspicacity, idée fixe, invigilator, salubrious, tchotchke, ex nihilo, invidious, malapropism, naïve, sardonic, elide and 1459 more...
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useful ones
ersatz, pastiche, amalgam, polemic, implacable, inchoate, tautology, grum, nonpareil, gracile, supernal, auspicious and 88 more...
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Dain's Words
rabble, terminus, archaic, atavism, demiurge, waylay, syzygy, jocoserious, quark, entropy, cinnabar, shamble and 912 more...
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odd love
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my words
interminable, effete, convocation, philistines, malaise, foibles, deputation, anathematized, morass, stalwart, proselytize, abet and 405 more...
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drseatbelt's Words
bilious, centenarian, droll, palliative, cortege, stultify, polysemy, suffuse, lambent, timorous, aegis, modicum and 236 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for hermeneutic.

oroboros Ken Wilber uses this word in relation to his "intersubjective" dynamic: the operative principle in how the "I" and "you" become a "we" by mutual understanding...which KW characterizes as a "bloody miracle". Jul 24, 2007