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Webster 1913 Edition
Gymnosophist
Gym-nos′o-phist
(jĭm-nŏs′ō̍-fĭst)
, Noun.
[Gr.
γυμνοσοφιστής
; γυμνόσ
naked + σοφιστήσ
philosopher; cf. F. gymnosophiste
.] One of a sect of philosophers, said to have been found in India by
Alexander the Great
, who went almost naked, denied themselves the use of flesh, renounced bodily pleasures, and employed themselves in the contemplation of nature. Webster 1828 Edition
Gymnosophist
GYM'NOSOPHIST
,Noun.
A philosopher of India, so called from his going with bare feet, or with little clothing. The Gymnosophists in India lived in the woods and on mountains, subsisting on wild productions of the earth. They never drank wine nor married. Some of them traveled about, and practiced physic. They believed the immortality and transmigration of the soul. They placed the chief happiness of man in a contempt of the goods of fortune, and of the pleasures of sense.