noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ɛsˈθɛt.ɪks/
nonstandard:/ɛsˈtɛt.ɪks/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
/ˌæsˈθɛt.ɪks/
/əsˈθɛt.ɪks/
/ɪsˈθɛt.ɪks/
CMU ARPABET:EH0 S TH EH1 T IH0 K S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The study or philosophy of beauty.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
An artist's principles, preferences, and/or his agenda
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
plural of aesthetic
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: form-of, plural
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
(art) the branch of philosophy dealing with beauty and taste (emphasizing the evaluative criteria that are applied to art)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
traditional aesthetics assumed the existence of universal and timeless criteria of artistic value
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: esthetics
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: philosophy
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2ew- Proto-Indo-European *dheh1- Proto-Indo-European *h2ewis-dhh1 Proto-Hellenic *awisthomai Ancient Greek αἰσθάνομαι (aisthánomai) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Ancient Greek -τις (-tis) Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs) Ancient Greek αἴσθησῐς (aísthēsĭs) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ῐκός (-ĭkós) Ancient Greek αἰσθητικός (aisthētikós)bor. Latin aesthēticusder. German Ästhetikder. ▲ New Latin aesthēticusbor. French esthétiqueder. English aesthetic Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic Old English -as Middle English -es English -s English -ics English aesthetics From aesthetic + -ics.
Across languages
Translations
74 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
estetikë
— study or philosophy of beauty
Arabic:
عِلْم الْجَمَال
(ʕilm al-jamāl)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Arabic:
فَلْسَفَةُ الْجَمَال
(falsafatu l-jamāl)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Armenian:
գեղագիտություն
(geġagitutʻyun)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Azerbaijani:
estetika
— study or philosophy of beauty
Belarusian:
эстэ́тыка
(estétyka)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Bengali:
সৌন্দর্যশাস্ত্র
(śōundorjośastro)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Breton:
kenedoniezh
— study or philosophy of beauty
Bulgarian:
есте́тика
(estétika)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Catalan:
estètica
— study or philosophy of beauty
Chinese Mandarin:
美學 /美学
(měixué)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Chinese Mandarin:
審美學 /审美学
(shěnměixué)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Czech:
estetika
— study or philosophy of beauty
Danish:
æstetik
— study or philosophy of beauty
Dutch:
esthetica
— study or philosophy of beauty
Esperanto:
estetiko
— study or philosophy of beauty
Estonian:
esteetika
— study or philosophy of beauty
Faroese:
fagurfrøði
— study or philosophy of beauty
Faroese:
listfrøði
— study or philosophy of beauty
Finnish:
estetiikka
— study or philosophy of beauty
French:
esthétique
— study or philosophy of beauty
Galician:
estética
— study or philosophy of beauty
Georgian:
ესთეტიკა
(esteṭiḳa)
— study or philosophy of beauty
German:
Ästhetik
— study or philosophy of beauty
Greek:
αισθητική
(aisthitikí)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Hebrew:
אֶסְתֶּטִיקָה
(estétika)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Hindi:
सौन्दर्यशास्त्र
(saundaryaśāstra)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Hindi:
सौंदर्यशास्त्र
(saundaryaśāstra)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Hungarian:
esztétika
— study or philosophy of beauty
Icelandic:
fagurfræði
— study or philosophy of beauty
Ido:
estetiko
— study or philosophy of beauty
Irish:
aeistéitic
— study or philosophy of beauty
Italian:
estetica
— study or philosophy of beauty
Japanese:
美学
(bigaku)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Kannada:
ಸೌಂದರ್ಯಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ
(saundaryaśāstra)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Kazakh:
эстетика
(éstetika)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Khmer:
សោភ័ណវិទ្យា
(saophŏən vityiə)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Korean:
미학
(mihak)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Kyrgyz:
эстетика
(estetika)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Latvian:
estētika
— study or philosophy of beauty
Lithuanian:
estetika
— study or philosophy of beauty
Macedonian:
естетика
(estetika)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Malay:
estetika
— study or philosophy of beauty
Norwegian Bokmål:
estetikk
— study or philosophy of beauty
Norwegian Nynorsk:
estetikk
— study or philosophy of beauty
Persian:
زیباییشناسی
(zibâyi-šenâsi)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Polish:
estetyka
— study or philosophy of beauty
Portuguese:
estética
— study or philosophy of beauty
Romanian:
estetică
— study or philosophy of beauty
Russian:
эсте́тика
(estɛ́tika)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Serbo-Croatian:
естѐтика
— study or philosophy of beauty
Serbo-Croatian:
estètika
— study or philosophy of beauty
Sicilian:
estètica
— study or philosophy of beauty
Sicilian:
stètica
— study or philosophy of beauty
Slovak:
estetika
— study or philosophy of beauty
Slovene:
estetika
— study or philosophy of beauty
Spanish:
estética
— study or philosophy of beauty
Swedish:
estetik
— study or philosophy of beauty
Tagalog:
santingan
— study or philosophy of beauty
Tagalog:
dalubsantingan
— study or philosophy of beauty
Tagalog:
palasantingan
— study or philosophy of beauty
Tagalog:
estetika
— study or philosophy of beauty
Tajik:
эстетика
(estetika)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Tajik:
зебоишиносӣ
(zeboyišinosi)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Tamil:
அழகியல்
(aḻakiyal)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Tamil:
முருகியல்
(murukiyal)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Thai:
สุนทรียศาสตร์
(sǔn-tá-rii-yá-sàat)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Thai:
สุนทรียภาพ
(sǔn-tá-rii-yá-pâap)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Turkish:
estetik
— study or philosophy of beauty
Ukrainian:
есте́тика
(estétyka)
— study or philosophy of beauty
Uzbek:
estetika
— study or philosophy of beauty
Vietnamese:
mỹ học
— study or philosophy of beauty
Volapük:
jönav
— study or philosophy of beauty
Chinese Mandarin:
審美 /审美
(shěnměi)
— principles or preferences of beauty