polymath
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
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
Hamilton
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This Week In Culture: August 15–21, 2020
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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.
She was this extraordinary polymath from the 12th century who was a healer, a writer of revelations and an early environmentalist.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
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
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
Something of a polymath, he was a Fellow of All Souls College in Oxford, physician to Edward VI and to Queen Mary, and sometime general surveyor of mines and money for the Crown.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
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.
