Etymology

homo ludens

Today it means: The human being viewed as primarily concerned with play, seeing it as an aim in itself. Full definition →

Latin homō lūdēns
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromhomō lūdēns“playful man”
  2. English todayhomo ludens

Coined by Dutch cultural historian Johan Huizinga in Homo Ludens (1938), which introduces the concept, from Latin homō lūdēns (“playful man”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.