a. and sb. [f. the name of the philosopher Herbert Spencer (1820–1903).] A. adj. Of or pertaining to Herbert Spencer or his philosophical views.
1873. Daily Tel., 22 Aug., 5/1. It is nevertheless singular to find something like a barbarous reflex of the Spencerian philosophy.
1886. A. W. Benn, in Academy, 28 Aug., 132/3. The Comtian and Spencerian systems.
1900. H. Macpherson, H. Spencer, 68. The comprehension of the Spencerian philosophy.
B. sb. A follower of Spencer.
1888. Athenæum, 14 Jan., 47/1. Being somewhat of a Spencerian, Major Ellis looks on their gods as originally spirits.
Hence Spencerianism, = next.
1881. Ld. Acton, Lett. to Mary Gladstone (1904), 89. The doctrine that there is no resisting the priesthood except by definite Spencerianism.
1892. Nation, 28 April, 322/3. The editor appears to be a propagandist of Spencerianism.
