noun plural but usually singular in construction
also es·thet·ics -iks, -ēks
( also aesthetic or esthetic )
Etymology: German ästhetik, from New Latin aesthetica, from Greek aisthētikē, feminine of aisthētikos of sense perception, from aisthanesthai to perceive — more at audible
1. : a branch of philosophy dealing with beauty and the beautiful especially with judgments of taste concerning them:
a. : the science of sensuous knowledge whose goal is beauty — compare logic
b. : transcendental aesthetic
c. : a particular philosophical theory or conception of art
a forward-looking aesthetics
an aesthetics of his own
2. : the philosophy or science of art ; specifically : the science whose subject matter is the description and explanation of the arts, artistic phenomena, and aesthetic experience and includes the psychology, sociology, ethnology, and history of the arts and essentially related aspects