stoic

Definition

Proponent of stoicism, a school of thought, from in 300 B.C.E. up to about the time of Marcus Aurelius, who holds that by cultivating an understanding of the logos, or natural law, one can be free of suffering.

Etymology

From Latin stōicus (noun via Middle English Stoycis pl), from Ancient Greek Στωϊκός (Stōïkós), from Ποικίλη Στοά (Poikílē Stoá, “the Stoa Poikile”, literally “painted portico”), the portico in Athens where Zeno of Citium was teaching.

Example Sentences

• "The anima mundi, to whose disposal of his own personal destiny the Stoic consents, is there to be respected and submitted to, but the Christian God is there to be loved; and the difference of emotional atmosphere is like that between an arctic climate and the tropics, though the outcome in the way of accepting actual conditions uncomplainingly may seem in abstract terms to be much the same."
• "Even a Rolls-Royce owner, I began to feel, would be a stoic to travel across Europe by car when the "Rheingold" is on offer."