esthetical

Esthetical is an adjective relating to aesthetics, the field concerned with beauty, taste, and the philosophy of art. It can describe judgments, principles, or phenomena associated with the appreciation or creation of beauty, or with design and experience intended to be valued aesthetically. In contemporary English, the more common form is aesthetic; esthetical appears mainly in older texts or in certain scholarly or stylistic contexts. The term shares its root with aesthetics and esthetics, and may be used interchangeably with aesthetic in some passages, though modern usage often favors the simpler form.

Etymology and variants: esthetical derives from esthetic and aesthetic, which themselves trace to Greek aisthētikos, “perceptible by the senses.” In some varieties of English, esthetical emphasizes theoretical or philosophical discourse about beauty, whereas aesthetic is used more broadly for both practical and theoretical contexts. Related forms include aesthetically (adverb) and aesthetics or esthetics (the noun form for the philosophy or study of beauty).

Usage notes: In current writing, aesthetic is typically preferred over esthetical, which is more likely to appear in historical, literary, or formal discussions. When referring to the field of study, the standard term is aesthetics (or esthetics in some American usage); when describing something related to that field, one would usually say aesthetically or aesthetic in modern prose.

See also: aesthetics, esthetics, aesthetic theory, philosophy of art.