Standard Lemma guide
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
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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
noun
Reluctance or refusal to ascribe purpose to natural phenomena.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: human-sciences, philosophy, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From German Teleophobie in the late 19th century. The OED considers the word modern Latin, but the earliest appearance is in the writing of Karl Ernst von Baer in German in the 1860s. Whatever the immediate source it can be analyzed as teleo- + -phobia, from Ancient Greek τέλος (télos, “purpose”) + -φοβία (-phobía, “-phobia”).
