pundit
[puhn-dit]
- a learned person, expert, or authority.
- a person who makes comments or judgments, especially in an authoritative manner; critic or commentator.
- pandit.
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Origin of pundit
1665–75; < Hindi paṇḍit < Sanskrit paṇḍita learned man, (adj.) learned
Synonyms
See more synonyms for pundit on Thesaurus.com1. sage, guru, savant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for pundit
Contemporary Examples
A politician or pundit screws up on one, and is made fun of on the other.
Her message of increased military power did not please the progressive wing of the Sunday pundit class.
But Ball recovered and went on to create a successful career as a pundit.
After the mother of all press conferences, the governor got favorable reviews from the pundit class.
Pundit Niall Ferguson constructed a Twitter-based index that calculates relative prestige as the ratio of tweets to followers.
Historical Examples
We had to deliver over the province of Kanchanpur to the Pundit.
The Cycle of SpringRabindranath Tagore
See that the rich province of Kanchanpur is settled on the Pundit.
The Cycle of SpringRabindranath Tagore
Lopez thanked the pundit and gave him sixpence,—which made the pundit suspicious.
The Prime MinisterAnthony Trollope
Pundit is the only conversible person on board; and he, poor soul!
The Works of Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe
The time I have given to it would have made me a pundit, if I had gone to work reasonably.'
The WhirlpoolGeorge Gissing
pundit
- an expert
- (formerly) a learned person
- Also called: pandit a Brahman learned in Sanskrit and, esp in Hindu religion, philosophy or law
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Word Origin
C17: from Hindi pandit, from Sanskrit pandita learned man, from pandita learned
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 pundit
n.
1670s, "learned Hindu," especially one versed in Sanskrit lore, from Hindi payndit "a learned man, master, teacher," from Sanskrit payndita-s "a learned man, scholar," of uncertain origin. Broader application in English is first recorded 1816. Related: Punditry.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper