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Leucippus

5th-century BCE Greek philosopher

PersonhumanQ165589

Also known as Leucippus of Miletus

Born: 5th century BCE
Died: 5th century BCE
Birthplace: Miletus
Place of death: Ancient Abdera
Citizenship: Miletus
Occupation: philosopher
1
Sources
1.Stated in Integrated Authority FileRetrieved 2026-04-20
View statement on Wikidata ↗
, physicist
Languages spoken, written or signed: Ancient Greek

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Leucippus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. He is traditionally credited as the founder of atomism, which he developed with his student Democritus. Leucippus divided the world into two entities: atoms, indivisible particles that make up all things, and the void, the nothingness that exists between the atoms. He developed his philosophy as a response to the Eleatics, who believed that all things are one and the void does not exist. Leucippus's ideas were influential in ancient and Renaissance philosophy. Leucippus was the first Western philosopher to develop the concept of atoms, but his ideas only bear a superficial resemblance to modern atomic theory.

Overview

Named after them

3 linked to Leucippus in Wikidata

All data

109 statements · 24% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Sex or gender: male
Student: Democritus
Field of work: philosophy
cosmology
Movement: atomism
materialism
Pre-Socratic philosophy
Writing language: Ancient Greek
Name in native language: Λεύκιππος
Significant place: Miletus
1
Sources
1.Stated in Protrepticus
View statement on Wikidata ↗

On other databases

83 identifiers linking Leucippus across the web's reference databases

Data quality

109

statements

24%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 17, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). Leucippus (Q165589). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/leucippus-Q165589