Voltaire

[vohl-tair, vol-; French vawl-ter] /voʊlˈtɛər, vɒl-; French vɔlˈtɛr/
noun
1.
(François Marie Arouet) 1694–1778, French philosopher, historian, satirist, dramatist, and essayist.
Related forms
Voltairean, Voltairian, adjective, noun
British Dictionary definitions for Voltaire

Voltaire

/vɒlˈtɛə; vəʊl-; French vɔltɛr/
noun
1.
pseudonym of François Marie Arouet. 1694–1778, French writer, whose outspoken belief in religious, political, and social liberty made him the embodiment of the 18th-century Enlightenment. His major works include Lettres philosophiques (1734) and the satire Candide (1759). He also wrote plays, such as Zaïre (1732), poems, and scientific studies. He suffered several periods of banishment for his radical views
Derived Forms
Voltairean, Voltairian, adjective, noun
Word Origin and History for Voltaire

name taken from 1718 by French author François Marie Arouet (1694-1778) after his imprisonment in the Bastille on suspicion of having written some satirical verses; originally de Voltaire. The signification is uncertain.

Voltaire in Culture
Voltaire [(vohl-tair, vol-tair)]

The nom de plume of François Arouet, an eighteenth-century French philosopher and author and a major figure of the Enlightenment. Voltaire was known as a wit and freethinker. The most famous of his works is Candide.