polymath

[pol-ee-math]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR polymath ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person of great learning in several fields of study; polyhistor.

Origin of polymath

1615–25; < Greek polymathḗs learned, having learned much, equivalent to poly- poly- + -mathēs, adj. derivative of manthánein to learn

Related formspol·y·math·ic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for polymath

educated, scientific, studied, scholarly, accomplished, well-educated, wunderkind, sound, experienced, versed, cultured, lettered, cultivated, grave, grounded, posted, abstruse, academic, bookish, brainy

Examples from the Web for polymath

Contemporary Examples of polymath

Athanasius Kircher, the eccentric seventeenth-century Jesuit polymath, collector of curiosities, and borderline crank.
Joshua Foer: How I Write
Noah Charney
January 16, 2013
Athanasius Kircher was a Jesuit priest and polymath, a man of unusual talents.
This Week’s Hot Reads: November 6, 2012
Mythili Rao
November 7, 2012

Historical Examples of polymath

The polymath Aristoxenus is credited with a book on the writers of tragedy.
A History of Bibliographies of Bibliographies
Archer Taylor

British Dictionary definitions for polymath

polymath

noun

a person of great and varied learning

Derived Formspolymathic, adjectivepolymathy (pəˈlɪməθɪ), noun

Word Origin for polymath

C17: from Greek polumathēs having much knowledge

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for polymath

1620s, from Greek polymathes "having learned much, knowing much," from polys "much" (see poly-) + root of manthanein "to learn" (see mathematic).