ataraxia

See also: ataràxia

English

WOTD – 1 April 2012

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀταραξία (ataraxía), ἀ- (a-, “negative prefix”) ταράσσω (tarássō, “trouble, disturb”). Doublet of ataraxy.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ætəˈɹæksiə/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Noun

ataraxia (usually uncountable, plural ataraxias)

1. (literary, Greek philosophy) Tranquility of mind; absence of mental disturbance.

   Synonyms: peace of mind, ataraxy

   • 1665, Joseph Glanvill, chapter XXVII, in Scepsis Scientifica: Or, Confest Ignorance, the Way to Science; in an Essay of the Vanity of Dogmatizing, and Confident Opinion with a Reply to the Exceptions of the Learned Thomas Albius‎^[1], London: E. Cotes, page 168:

     And what happineſs is there in a ſtorm of paſſions? On this account the Scepticks affected an indifferent æquipondious neutrality as the only means to their Ataraxia, and freedom from paßionate diſturbances.

   • 1838, Piomingo, John Robinson, The Savage‎^[2], 2nd edition, Philadelphia: J. Ferral, →OCLC, →OL, page 194:

     O, for that apathy of soul, that sweet ataraxia, of which I have heard, which forbids alike the approaches of pleasure and pain, hope and despair!

   • 1921, J.E. Crawford Flitch, transl., The Tragic Sense Of Life‎^[3], translation of Del sentimiento trágico de la vida by Miguel de Unamuno:

     That terrible Latin poet Lucretius, whose apparent serenity and Epicurean ataraxia conceal so much despair, said that piety consists in the power to contemplate all things with a serene soul—pacata posse mente omnia tueri.

   • 2006, Robert Harris, Imperium‎^[4], London: Arrow Books, Part 2, Chapter 15, p. 400:

     […] he was an Epicurean not in the commonly misunderstood sense, as a seeker after luxury, but in the true meaning, as a pursuer of what the Greeks call ataraxia, or freedom from disturbance.

Related terms

• ataractic
• ataraxy

Translations

absence of mental disturbance

• Armenian: անվրդովություն (hy) (anvrdovutʻyun), ատարաքսիա (hy) (atarakʻsia)
• Basque: ataraxia
• Catalan: ataràxia f
• Finnish: mielenrauha (fi), tyyneys (fi), ataraksia (fi)
• French: ataraxie (fr) f
• German: Ataraxie (de) f
• Greek: αταραξία (el) f (ataraxía)
• Ido: ataraxio (io)
• Irish: ataraicse f, ataráisce f
• Italian: atarassia (it) f
• Polish: ataraksja (pl) f
• Portuguese: ataraxia (pt) f
• Romanian: ataraxie (ro) f
• Russian: атара́ксия (ru) f (ataráksija)
• Spanish: ataraxia (es) f
• Turkish: ataraksiya (tr)

See also

• Epicureanism

Further reading

• ataraxia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Basque

Etymology

Ancient Greek ἀταραξία (ataraxía).

Noun

ataraxia inan

1. ataraxia

Portuguese

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀταραξία (ataraxía).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.ta.ɾakˈsi.ɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.ta.ɾakˈsi.ɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.ta.ɾakˈsi.a/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.tɐ.ɾɐˈksi.ɐ/

• Hyphenation: a‧ta‧ra‧xi‧a

Noun

ataraxia f (plural ataraxias)

1. ataraxia

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [a.ta.rakˈsi.a]

Noun

ataraxia f

1. definite nominative singular of ataraxie: the ataraxia
2. definite accusative singular of ataraxie: the ataraxia

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀταραξία (ataraxía).

Noun

ataraxia f (plural ataraxias)

1. ataraxia

Further reading

• “ataraxia”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28