The term "cynic" derives from Diogenes of Sinope or Diogenes the Cynic ('the Dog'). Diogenes (c.412-323 BCE) was a contemporary of Plato in Ancient Athens, whom Plato described as "a Socrates gone mad ...
Diogenes the Cynic (c. 412–323 BCE) was a contemporary of Plato, who once called him "a Socrates gone mad." After being exiled from his native Sinope for having defaced its coinage, Diogenes moved to ...