Op′ti-mĭsm, n.

n. [Fr. optimisme, Sp. optimismo, It. ottimismo, from Lat. optimus, the best.] The opinion or doctrine that every thing in nature is ordered for the best; or the ordering of things in the universe so as to produce the highest good. “The true and amiable philosophy of optimism.” Walsh.

A system of strict optimism may be the real system in both cases. Paley.