Pantagruelism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A belief system that values the enjoyment of life's bounties and promotes the indulgence in sensory pleasures, excess, and the celebration of abundance
2. An outlook that emphasizes living fully through pleasure, emphasizing an appreciation for excess in various aspects such as food, drink, and experiences
3. A philosophical stance that advocates for savoring the richness of life through indulgence in sensory delights, abundant experiences, and the celebration of plentiful enjoyment

Etymology: Pantagruel is a giant who, in François Rabelais's satirical novel Gargantua and Pantagruel, is the son of the giant Gargantua. Rabelais published his early books in the 1530s and 1540s, and Pantagruel, the character, gives his name to a whole outlook on life. The novel's giants feast, drink, laugh and talk without restraint, and the book's appetite for food, wine and bawdy humour is what the word "pantagruelism" came to name. The "-ism" ending simply turns the character's name into a doctrine, the way a person's name can become a label for a set of attitudes. The word therefore carries the character's own temperament: generous, excessive, and unembarrassed about pleasure. It is an eponym, meaning a word built from a person's name, and here the person is fictional.