apophatic · adj — pertaining to knowledge of God obtained through negation rather than positive assertions. It carries an Arena rating of 1510, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, apophatic ranks #208 of 17,136 for Most Sublime Words, #2,792 of 17,157 for Most Exacting Words, #3,462 of 17,135 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #4,575 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words.
apophatic is pronounced /apə(ʊ)ˈfatɪk/.
Why “apophatic” is a great word
Pertaining to knowledge, especially of the divine, obtained through negation or by describing what something is not. From Ancient Greek ἀποφατικός (apophatikós, "negative"), from ἀπόφασις (apophasis, "denial"), first attested in English c. 1850. Unlike "cataphatic" theology, which builds a portrait through positive affirmation, or a "definitive" statement, which provides conclusive description, the apophatic way is a meticulous subtraction. It is the theologian insisting God is not light, not love, not being; the sculptor revealing form by removing stone; the silence that remains when every word has been tried and found insufficient—a testament to the poverty of speech before the absolute.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἀποφατικός (apophatikós, “negative”).
adj
- Pertaining to knowledge of God obtained through negation rather than positive assertions.e.g.“For him, the assertions of Palamas ran counter to the apophatic insistence in Pseudo-Dionysius that God was unknowable in his essence.” — 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 488:
- That passively defines a thing by describing what is not characteristic of it.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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