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How did Marsilio Ficino help give the word platonic its modern meaning?

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The Greek philosopher Plato — Plato Plato, marble portrait bust copied from an original of the 4th century bce; in the Capitoline Museums, Rome.

Marsilio Ficino played a pivotal role in shaping the modern understanding of the word "platonic" through his 15th-century interpretations of Plato's work. In his 1469 commentary on Plato’s Symposium, titled De amore ("On Love"), Ficino coined the term amor platonicus (Platonic love).12

Ficino interpreted Plato’s philosophical "ladder of love"—which describes a spiritual ascent from physical attraction to the love of beauty itself—through a Christian lens. He argued that this ultimate love for beauty was a manifestation of the soul’s love for God, defining a spiritual communion between individuals that transcended physical desire.12

While this concept of spiritual love was initially influential, it later became a target for satire in 16th and 17th-century literature. Dramatists like Ben Jonson and Sir William Davenant mocked these "lofty" ideals, which helped shift the term's usage in English toward its modern meaning: a relationship characterized by nonsexual, spiritual, or friendly affection. Over time, the association with spiritual ecstasy faded, and the word settled into its contemporary usage as a descriptor for serious, unromantic friendship.2