Words · Meanings · Passages
Lexicon
Terms from the books in the Diotimos library, with definitions, translation notes, and links to their passages.
4,297 entries across 21 collectionsTerms beginning with I
73–108 of 128
Innate heat
Emphytos means implanted, inborn, or innate; to thermon is the hot or heat.
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Innateness
Innateness concerns what is already present in a mind or soul before particular experience or explicit formulation.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II
Inner eye
The inner eye is the soul's attentive capacity to perceive its own life and, through that life, the meaning of nature.
The Green Notebook
Inner light
The phrase “inner light” names the light within a seeing animal, contrasted with light outside it.
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Innocence
Innocence can be ignorance of evil, an affectionate quality or a receptivity to truths inaccessible to pride.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II · Centuries of Meditations
Inquiry
Zētein is to seek, search or inquire; zētēsis is the inquiry.
Charmides · Alcibiades I+5 books
Inquiry into nature
Historia means inquiry or investigation, not necessarily a written history.
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Insatiable desire and divine enlargement
Capacity is the reach of intellectual and vital reception; ardour describes its unsatisfied desire.
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II
Insatiableness
Aplēstia means insatiability, the condition of not being filled or satisfied.
Hipparchus · Centuries of Meditations
Inscriptions and memorials
Γράμματα, literally letters or written characters, here means inscriptions, especially the famous sayings at Delphi.
Hipparchus
Insect and animalcule
Insecte and animalcule both concern small living forms, but animalcule is a historical term for a tiny creature, especially in microscopic accounts.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II · The Green Notebook
Insolence and outrage
Hybris is insolent or outrageous overstepping, often expressed in harmful conduct.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Insolence of the inquiry
Hybristikōs means in an insolent or outrageous manner.
Charmides
Inspiration
Inspiration names an arrival or prompting not fully commanded by deliberate will.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II
Inspired wisdom
Two related expressions must be distinguished.
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum
Instinct
Instinct is a direct or unreflective disposition, but it belongs to both animals and humans in these notebooks.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II
Instrument
Organon means tool, implement; here an instrument for wool-working.
Lysis · Stobaeus, Volume I+3 books
Insults and rebuke
Canes are dogs and latrare barking; these are polemical metaphors when applied to opponents.
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I
Integrity of the whole
Integritas is the completeness or integrated nature of the whole.
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II
Intellect
Nous concerns understanding or intellect.
Stobaeus, Volume I · Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I+1 book
Intellection
Noēsis is the act of thinking or apprehending intellectually.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Intellective
Noeros describes what belongs to intellect or operates intellectually.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Intellectual and animating powers
Vis and potentia name a power; vivifica and motrix specify life-giving and moving functions.
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I
Intellectual forms and intelligible essences
An intelligible essence is what mind knows; an intellectual form is the image or form through which it is actually able to know that essence.
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II
Intellectual generation and daily renewal
Intellectual generation is the mind's inward production of intelligible accounts.
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II
Intellectual objects and the owl’s eye
Obiectum is what a cognitive power attends to or encounters.
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II
Intelligence
Intelligence names understanding or the power of intelligent apprehension; it need not name a particular acquired skill.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II · The Green Notebook
Intelligence and perceptual accuracy
The superlatives mean most intelligent, most exact, and most senseless.
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Intelligible
Noēton means what is apprehended by intellect.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Intelligible and sensible
Intelligible and sensible distinguish what understanding can apprehend from what can be presented to the senses.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II
Intent and purpose
Prothesis is an intention or purpose, something set before an agent.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Intention
Intentio can be an orientation of purpose, but secunda quadam intentione locally means a secondary degree or remove.
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I
Interest
Interest can mean a share in something, a concern that affects one, or an advantage pursued.
Centuries of Meditations
Interior and exterior
An interior is what lies within a boundary; an exterior is what lies outside it or faces outward.
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Interminable
Interminable means boundless or without an ending or limit.
Centuries of Meditations
Interpretation
Hermēneia can concern expression as well as interpretation.
Stobaeus, Volume I
Books in the Lexicon
October 2026
Plato’s Alcibiades I Lexicon
Alcibiades I · Plato
176 entries · 701 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Alcibiades II Lexicon
Alcibiades II · Plato
94 entries · 290 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Traherne Lexicon
Centuries of Meditations · Thomas Traherne
471 entries · 0 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Charmides Lexicon
Charmides · Plato
173 entries · 777 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Empedocles Lexicon
Empedocles, Volumes I–II · Empedocles of Acragas
490 entries · 0 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Epinomis Lexicon
Epinomis · Plato
77 entries · 1,061 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Flatland Literary Lexicon
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions · Edwin A. Abbott
85 entries · 476 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Khunrath Lexicon
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum · Heinrich Khunrath
326 entries · 0 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Hipparchus Lexicon
Hipparchus · Plato
90 entries · 291 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Baudelaire Literary Lexicon
Intimate Journals · Charles Baudelaire
80 entries · 323 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Lysis Lexicon
Lysis · Plato
239 entries · 0 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I Lexicon
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I · Marsilio Ficino
231 entries · 1,313 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II Lexicon
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II · Marsilio Ficino
148 entries · 1,398 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Minos Lexicon
Minos · Plato
54 entries · 506 subsidiary terms
October 2026
René Literary Lexicon
René · François-René de Chateaubriand
81 entries · 275 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Stobaeus Lexicon
Stobaeus, Volume I · John Stobaeus
610 entries · 85 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy Lexicon
The Anatomy of Melancholy · Robert Burton
103 entries · 3,864 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Guérin Lexicon
The Green Notebook · Maurice de Guérin
165 entries · 0 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Lovers Lexicon
The Lovers · Plato
83 entries · 361 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Joubert Lexicon
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II · Joseph Joubert
459 entries · 110 subsidiary terms
October 2026
Plato’s Theages Lexicon
Theages · Plato
62 entries · 510 subsidiary terms