entry
ascetic
/əˈsɛtɪk/Practicing severe self-denial for spiritual or moral purposes
From Greek ask- (To exercise).
from Medieval Latin asceticus
Word Ancestry
from Medieval Latin asceticus
Picture an athlete sweating through drills in an ancient Greek gymnasium: that disciplined practitioner was an askētēs, from askéō, “to exercise” or “train.” The Stoics then gave the word a surprising turn, applying athletic self-control to appetites and passions—the mind’s version of keeping fit. Early Christians adopted the metaphor, and by the fourth century figures such as the Egyptian Desert Fathers were treating fasting, prayer, and poverty as spiritual training. English received the Latinized form asceticus in the seventeenth century, with its first recorded use around 1646. So an ascetic is not originally someone who merely “gives things up”; the word remembers a spiritual athlete, training the soul as carefully as a runner trains the body.
The Story
Picture an athlete sweating through drills in an ancient Greek gymnasium: that disciplined practitioner was an askētēs, from askéō, “to exercise” or “train.” The Stoics then gave the word a surprising turn, applying athletic self-control to appetites and passions—the mind’s version of keeping fit. Early Christians adopted the metaphor, and by the fourth century figures such as the Egyptian Desert Fathers were treating fasting, prayer, and poverty as spiritual training. English received the Latinized form asceticus in the seventeenth century, with its first recorded use around 1646. So an ascetic is not originally someone who merely “gives things up”; the word remembers a spiritual athlete, training the soul as carefully as a runner trains the body.
Kin & Kindred
From 'ask-'·To exercise, train, or practice
Cognates
Related words in other languages
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary