How to spell philosophy

hear itphi·los·o·phy/fɪ'lɑsəfi/nounLong vowels

What it means: The study of fundamental questions about existence.

In a sentence: Philosophy is like thinking about life's big questions.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as phylosophy or filosophy.

Same family: philosopher, philosophical, philosophically, philosophize, ethics. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Philosophy comes from the ancient Greek words *philo* meaning "love" and *sophia* meaning "wisdom," so it literally means "love of wisdom." The term was used by famous Greek thinkers like Socrates and Plato to describe their search for truth and understanding.

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

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Words like this

phobia · phenomenon · knowledge · additional · never · little · answer · done

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