Relating to the ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles or his theory that all matter is made of four basic elements: earth, air, fire, and water.
From Empedocles, a 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher from Sicily, + -an (relating to). Empedocles' four-element theory dominated Western science for 2,000 years.
Empedocles was also the guy who supposedly threw himself into Mount Etna to prove he was immortal—spoiler alert, he wasn't! His four-element theory was so influential that alchemists and medieval scientists swore by it.
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