Misleading definitions

This from the Free Dictionary on the web:

ep•i•cu•re•an (??p ? ky??ri ?n, -?ky??r i-)

adj.
1. having luxurious tastes or habits, esp. in eating and drinking.
2. fit for an epicure.
3. (cap.) of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Epicurus or Epicureanism.
n.
4. an epicure.
5. (cap.) a disciple of Epicurus.

The first entry (no. 1) should be protested and changed. The charge that Epicureans had “luxurious tastes or habits esp. in eating and drinking” is the sort of distortion that Goebbels himself would have approved. The facts are entirely to the contrary. Epicureans ate and drank modestly. Still do. Indeed moderation was the whole basis of the teachings of Epicurus. But if you throw enough mud . . . . . . .

One Comment

  1. You’re quite right on the mistakenly shallow Free Dictionary definition of Epicureanism. That source is no threat to the OED is it? What is the OED definition, by the way?
    You’re a master of Pith, aren’t you going to be the one to challenge the Free Dictionary?

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