August 6, 1998

zetetic

In recent readings, I have encountered the word "zetetic." My suspicions are that is another neologism concocted by the same culprits who bastardized "metaphysics" into meaning paranormal. Can you provide an etymology?

My god, man, what have you been reading?

Zetetic is a rather rare word. It is, however, no neologism.

The word zetetic means 'inquiring', as in "Zetetic minds want to know!" OK, I made that quote up, but that's really what the word means--'inquiring' or 'investigating'. It is also used as a noun meaning 'a member of the ancient Greek skeptics', the skeptics being a group of philosophers who maintained that real knowledge of things is impossible.

Zetetic is an adoption of Latin zététicus, from Greek zététicós, a derivative of zéteîn 'to seek; inquire'. The word is first found in English in the seventeenth century. (The sixteenth-century French mathematician Franciscus Vieta had used the word in the title of one of his works, and several of the English examples are reference to Vieta's use, meaning 'a mathematical investigation'.) In the late nineteenth century, there was founded a Zetetical Society, which had mystical beliefs; G.B. Shaw was a member.