apophatic
|a-po-pha-tic|
/ˌæpəˈfætɪk/
describing by negation
Etymology
'apophatic' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'apophatikos', where 'apo-' meant 'away from' and the root 'phasis'/'phatikos' related to 'saying' or 'statement' (hence 'negation' or 'speaking away').
'apophatikos' passed into Medieval/Church Latin as 'apophaticus' and later entered English as 'apophatic', used especially in theological contexts.
Initially, it meant 'pertaining to negation or negating statements'; over time it became specialized in theology to mean 'describing the divine by negation' while retaining broader philosophical usage.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
relating to apophatic theology (the approach to describing God by negation — stating what God is not rather than what God is).
The apophatic tradition emphasizes what cannot be said about the divine.
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Adjective 2
in a more general philosophical sense: characterizing an approach that defines or understands something by negation or by stating what it is not.
Her argument adopted an apophatic stance, describing the concept in terms of what it excluded.
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Last updated: 2025/09/21 02:34