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Webster 1913 Edition
Acroatic
Webster 1828 Edition
Acroatic
ACROAT'IC
,Adj.
Abstruse; pertaining to deep learning; and opposed to exoteric. Aristotle's lectures were of two kinds, acroatic, acroamatic, or esoteric, which were delivered to a class of select disciples, who had been previously instructed in the elements of learning; and exoteric, which were delivered in public. The former respected being, God, and nature; the principal subjects of the latter were logic, rhetoric, and policy. The abstruse lectures were called acroatics.
Definition 2024
acroatic
acroatic
English
Alternative forms
- acroatick (obsolete)
Adjective
acroatic (comparative more acroatic, superlative most acroatic)
- acroamatic[1]
- 2001: Rupert Woodfin, Judy Groves, and Richard Appignanesi, Introducing Aristotle, page 24
- The poet Thomas Gray said that reading Aristotle was like eating dried hay. This is something of an exaggeration, but his writing can be hard work. It is generally agreed that these “esoteric” (or “acroatic”) works are actually lecture notes, the working documents that he used on a daily basis for his teaching.
- 2001: Rupert Woodfin, Judy Groves, and Richard Appignanesi, Introducing Aristotle, page 24
Related terms
References
- 1 2 3 “acroatic, a. and n.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]