autodidact

American  

[aw-toh-dahy-dakt, -dahy-dakt] / ˌɔ toʊˈdaɪ dækt, -daɪˈdækt /

noun

1. a person who has learned a subject without the benefit of a teacher or formal education; a self-taught person.

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autodidact British  

/ ˈɔːtəʊˌdaɪdækt /

noun

1. a person who is self-taught

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• autodidactic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of autodidact

First recorded in 1525–35; from Greek autodídaktos “self-taught”; see origin at auto- ¹, didactic

Explanation

An autodidact is someone who has learned things on their own, outside of school. If you've learned Greek and Latin, as well as landscape painting and auto repair, without any formal training, you are quite the autodidact. Auto- means "self," and didact comes from the Greek word for "teach," so an autodidact is a person who's self-taught. Being the autodidact that you are, instead of calling the plumber when your pipes burst, you bought some manuals and began to learn how to fix it yourself. You might want to learn scuba diving next, now that your apartment is flooded.

Example Sentences

Precocious as a child and an autodidact, the U.S.-born música Mexicana star taught himself to play guitar at age 8 by watching YouTube tutorials.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 31, 2024

Wonder is also an autodidact, and Joe is sure “Harvard is playing matchmaker.”

From Washington Post • Apr. 18, 2023

He was an autodidact who read more than most college professors.

From Salon • Nov. 23, 2022

Blandine is a child of Vacca Vale born and raised, if rarely cared for: an autodidact and eerie Valkyrie beauty, with her piles of well-thumbed tomes on 12th-century mystics and corn-silk halo of hair.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2022

Again I told him I doubted it, but I felt somehow honored to hear the off-kilter theories of this isolated autodidact, because I knew he wouldn’t tell just anyone, especially not COs.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover