CLEINIAS: Certainly we should.
ATHENIAN: And when we see soul in anything, must we not do the same—must we not admit that this is life?
CLEINIAS: We must.
ATHENIAN: And now, I beseech you, reflect—you would admit that we have a threefold knowledge of things?
CLEINIAS: What do you mean?
ATHENIAN: I mean that we know the essence, and that we know the definition of the essence, and the name—these are the three; and there are two questions which may be raised about anything.
CLEINIAS: How two?
ATHENIAN: Sometimes a person may give the name and ask the definition; or he may give the definition and ask the name. I may illustrate what I mean in this way.
CLEINIAS: How?
ATHENIAN: Number like some other things is capable of being divided into equal parts; when thus divided, number is named 'even,' and the definition of the name 'even' is 'number divisible into two equal parts'?