Esthetics

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  AEsthetics \[AE]s*thet"ics\, Esthetics \Es*thet"ics\ (?; 277),
     n. [Gr. ? perceptive, esp. by feeling, fr. ? to perceive,
     feel: cf. G. [aum]sthetik, F. esth['e]tique.]
     The theory or philosophy of taste; the science of the
     beautiful in nature and art; esp. that which treats of the
     expression and embodiment of beauty by art.


     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Esthete \Es"thete\, n.; Esthetic \Es*thet"ic\, a., Esthetical
  \Es*thet"ic*al\, a., Esthetics \Es*thet"ics\, n. etc.
     Same as {[ae]sthete}, {[ae]sthetic}, {[ae]sthetical},
     {[ae]sthetics}, etc.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  esthetics
       n : (art) the branch of philosophy dealing with beauty and taste
           (emphasizing the evaluative criteria that are applied to
           art); "traditional aesthetics assumed the existence of
           universal and timeless criteria of artistic value" [syn:
           {aesthetics}]