Standard Lemma guide

theosophy

noun · 5 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.

  • thē-ŏs′ə-fē
  • UK: /θɪˈɒsəfɪ/
  • General-American: [θiˈɑs.ə.fi]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism claiming that knowledge of God can be attained through mystical insight and spiritual ecstasy, and that direct communication with the transcendent world is possible.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: human-sciences, lifestyle, philosophy, religion, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any system which claims to attain communication with God and superior spirits by physical processes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: lifestyle, religion

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The system of beliefs and doctrines of the Theosophical Society.

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

4

noun

Meaning 4

Alternative letter-case form of theosophy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a system of belief based on mystical insight into the nature of God and the soul

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: system, system of rules

Narrower terms: Kabbalah, Kabbala, Kabala, Cabbalah, Cabbala, Cabala, Qabbalah, Qabbala

History

Etymology

From Medieval Latin theosophia, from Ancient Greek θεοσοφῐ́ᾱ (theosophĭ́ā, “knowledge of things divine”, from θεός (theós, “god”) + σοφῐ́ᾱ (sophĭ́ā, “wisdom”)); By surface analysis, theo- + -sophy.

Across languages

Translations

40 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: թեոսոֆիա (tʻeosofia) — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Armenian: աստվածիմացություն (astvacimacʻutʻyun) — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Belarusian: тэасо́фія (teasófija) — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Bulgarian: теосо́фия (teosófija) — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Catalan: teosofia — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Czech: teosofie — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Danish: teosofi — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Dutch: theosofie — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Estonian: teosoofia — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Finnish: teosofia — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • French: théosophie — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Georgian: თეოსოფია (teosopia) — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • German: Theosophie — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Greek: θεοσοφία (theosofía) — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Ancient Greek: θεοσοφία (theosophía) — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Hindi: थियोसोफी (thiyosophī) — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Hungarian: teozófia — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Icelandic: guðspeki — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Indonesian: teosofi — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Italian: teosofia — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Korean: 신지학 (sinjihak) — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Northern Kurdish: teosofî — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Northern Kurdish: hikmeta îlahî — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Northern Kurdish: tesewif — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Latin: theosophia — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Malay: teosofi — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Norwegian: teosofi — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Polish: teozofia — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Portuguese: teosofia — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Romanian: teozofie — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Russian: теосо́фия (teosófija) — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Serbo-Croatian: teozofija — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Spanish: teosofía — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Swedish: teosofi — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Tagalog: batharunungan — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Tajik: ваҳдония (vahdoniya) — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Tatar: теософия (teosofiyä) — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Turkish: teosofi — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Ukrainian: теосо́фія (teosófija) — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism
  • Vietnamese: thông thiên học — doctrine of religious philosophy and mysticism