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

• 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

Staten Island’s resident British vampire gent, Laszlo Cravensworth is a well-educated autodidact with varied intellectual interests.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 28, 2024

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

From Salon • Nov. 23, 2022

He was essentially an autodidact in diving as well, having used primitive diagrams on a bulletin board at the Y as his only early guides.

From Washington Post • Jul. 21, 2022

That means, for instance, it’s possible for an autodidact from outside academia to get time on Webb.

From Scientific American • Jul. 11, 2022

Michele is essentially an autodidact, and so not to be taken too seriously.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton