%laton%

{ } n. Latten, 1. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Physiology) A hormone secreted by the pineal gland. Chemically it is N-acety-5-methoxytryptamine. Research has indicated that there are daily rhythms in secretion of melatonin, in particular due to the depressing effect on melatonin production by light received by the retina. Conversely it appears that melatonin may influence the circadian rhythms of animals. There is some experimental evidence that administration of melatonin may increase the amount of sleep in people with sleep disorders. However, the evidence is not convincing and the effect is not profound. Nevertheless, the deregulation of melatonin and its availability over-the-counter has led to many people taking melatonin to help sleep, without consulting a physician. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

A role for melatonin in sleep facilitation has been inferred from its effect on electroencephalogram patterns, but it has not been possible to demonstrate that wakefulness sleep cycles are driven by periodic accumulation, depletion, or regeneration of melatonin. Uwe Ackermann, Essentials of Human Physiology, 1992

a. Of, pertaining to, or resembling, Neoplatonism or the Neoplatonists. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A Neoplatonist. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Neo- + Platonism. ] A pantheistic eclectic school of philosophy, of which Plotinus was the chief (a. d. 205-270), and which sought to reconcile the Platonic and Aristotelian systems with Oriental theosophy. It tended to mysticism and theurgy, and was the last product of Greek philosophy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who held to Neoplatonism; a member of the Neoplatonic school. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL. See Palato-, and Nares. ] (Anat.) The posterior nares. See Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A follower of Plato; a Platonist. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ L. Platonicus, Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. platonique. ] 1. Of or pertaining to Plato, or his philosophy, school, or opinions. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Pure, passionless; nonsexual; philosophical. [ 1913 Webster ]

Platonic bodies, the five regular geometrical solids; namely, the tetrahedron, hexahedron or cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron. --
Platonic love, a pure, spiritual affection, subsisting between persons of opposite sex, unmixed with carnal desires, and regarding the mind only and its excellences; -- a species of love for which Plato was a warm advocate. --
Platonic year (Astron.), a period of time determined by the revolution of the equinoxes, or the space of time in which the stars and constellations return to their former places in respect to the equinoxes; -- called also great year. This revolution, which is caused by the precession of the equinoxes, is accomplished in about 26, 000 years. Barlow. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a Platonic manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. Platonisme. ] 1. The doctrines or philosophy by Plato or of his followers. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Plato believed God to be an infinitely wise, just, and powerful Spirit; and also that he formed the visible universe out of preëxistent amorphous matter, according to perfect patterns of ideas eternally existent in his own mind. Philosophy he considered as being a knowledge of the true nature of things, as discoverable in those eternal ideas after which all things were fashioned. In other words, it is the knowledge of what is eternal, exists necessarily, and is unchangeable; not of the temporary, the dependent, and changeable; and of course it is not obtained through the senses; neither is it the product of the understanding, which concerns itself only with the variable and transitory; nor is it the result of experience and observation; but it is the product of our reason, which, as partaking of the divine nature, has innate ideas resembling the eternal ideas of God. By contemplating these innate ideas, reasoning about them, and comparing them with their copies in the visible universe, reason can attain that true knowledge of things which is called philosophy. Plato's professed followers, the Academics, and the New Platonists, differed considerably from him, yet are called Platonists. Murdock. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An elevated rational and ethical conception of the laws and forces of the universe; sometimes, imaginative or fantastic philosophical notions. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who adheres to the philosophy of Plato; a follower of Plato. Hammond. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Platonized p. pr. & vb. n. Platonizing. ] To adopt the opinion of Plato or his followers. Milner. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To explain by, or accomodate to, the Platonic philosophy. Enfield. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who Platonizes. [ 1913 Webster ]