stoic [LME] The original Stoics (3rd century bc) of ancient Athens were the followers of a school of philosophy which taught that wise men should live in harmony with Fate or Providence, and be indifferent to the ups and downs of life and to pleasure and pain. From there stoic or stoical [LME] came to mean ‘enduring pain and hardship without complaint’. The word is from the Stoa Poikilē, or ‘Painted Porch’, where the school’s founder, Zeno, taught. See also cynic, epicure.