polymath
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- polymathic adjective
- polymathy noun
Etymology
Origin of polymath
1615–25; < Greek polymathḗs learned, having learned much, equivalent to poly- poly- + -mathēs, adj. derivative of manthánein to learn
Explanation
A polymath is a person who knows a lot about a lot of subjects. If your friend is not only a brilliant physics student but has also published a poetry collection and won prizes at political debates, you can describe her as a polymath. You can think of a polymath as a classic "Renaissance man." Imagine Leonardo da Vinci, for example, who was not only an amazing artist, but also an engineer, inventor, mathematician, and much more. When a person's knowledge covers many different areas, he or she is a polymath. The Greek word for it is polymathes, "having learned much," with poly meaning "much," and manthanein meaning "learn."
Vocabulary lists containing polymath
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A remarkable polymath, Goethe himself served as an advisor to Weimar’s Grand Duke, brilliantly balancing political compromises with literature’s highest spiritual callings.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2026
He was tutored by his uncle, Étienne-Jean Delécluze, a polymath painter, art critic and novelist.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
Later this month, the world premiere of Kurtag's second opera "Die Stechardin" about the 18th-century love story of a German polymath and a flower girl will cap the centenary of his birth.
From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026
"I like facts, I like knowledge, I like having wide interests. There's various ways of describing such a person, dilettante might be one way and polymath might be another."
From BBC • Nov. 29, 2025
His father was a wealthy banker in Birmingham; his mother was the daughter of Erasmus Darwin, the polymath poet and doctor, who was also Charles Darwin's grandfather.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
