polymath
[pol-ee-math]
- a person of great learning in several fields of study; polyhistor.
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Origin of polymath
1615–25; < Greek polymathḗs learned, having learned much, equivalent to poly- poly- + -mathēs, adj. derivative of manthánein to learn
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for polymath
Contemporary Examples
Athanasius Kircher, the eccentric seventeenth-century Jesuit polymath, collector of curiosities, and borderline crank.
Athanasius Kircher was a Jesuit priest and polymath, a man of unusual talents.
Historical Examples
The polymath Aristoxenus is credited with a book on the writers of tragedy.
A History of Bibliographies of BibliographiesArcher Taylor
polymath
- a person of great and varied learning
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Word Origin
C17: from Greek polumathēs having much knowledge
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for polymath
n.
1620s, from Greek polymathes "having learned much, knowing much," from polys "much" (see poly-) + root of manthanein "to learn" (see mathematic).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper