scholar

American  

[skol-er] / ˈskɒl ər /

noun

• scholars
  plural

1. a learned or erudite person, especially one who has profound knowledge of a particular subject.

   Synonyms:

   savant

2. a student; pupil.

3. a student who has been awarded a scholarship.

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scholar British  

/ ˈskɒlə /

noun

1. a learned person, esp in the humanities

2. a person, esp a child, who studies; pupil

3. a student of merit at an educational establishment who receives financial aid, esp from an endowment given for such a purpose

4. a school pupil

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Synonym Usage

See pupil ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonscholar
  noun
• scholarliness
  noun
• nonscholarly
  adjective
• scholarless
  adjective
• scholarly
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• scholars
  plural

Etymology

Origin of scholar

First recorded before 1000; from Late Latin scholāris, equivalent to Latin schol(a) school ¹ + -āris -ar ¹; replacing Middle English scoler(e), Old English scolere, from Late Latin, as above

Explanation

Someone who learns is a scholar, though the word also means someone with a lot of knowledge in one subject. If you know a lot about books, you could be called a literary scholar. It doesn't take a Latin scholar to understand the word scholar. It probably reminds you of school, scholastic, and scholarship. That's because they all share the Latin root schola which means school. A scholar in the academic sense usually has his or her area of specialty in the humanities as opposed to the sciences.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scholar scholars

As a legal scholar researching the evolution of modern presidential clemency, I have reviewed every individual pardon and commutation granted by U.S. presidents since 1989, spanning seven administrations, from George H.W.

From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026

Dr B Amo Konyak, a scholar of Konyak society, says the changes during this period were almost like a disappearance.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

Over the course of Jim Harbaugh’s two decades as a head coach, he has been America’s most famous khaki-pants evangelist, moonlit as a Supreme Court scholar, and declared steak a daily vitamin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

“Of course it could be frustrating,” said her daughter Brigitte, an elegant, soft-spoken scholar of Semitic languages who has managed Caland’s estate since her death in 2019.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

“Someday, I’m going to be a famous scholar of the temple.”

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

Today, a motivated undergraduate at almost any university can engage with Adam Smith, Friedrich Hayek, John Maynard Keynes and hundreds of contemporary scholars in a single afternoon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

Every scroll that was successfully opened physically contained writing previously unknown to scholars.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

For scholars who study ancient writing, the potential importance is difficult to overstate.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

One recent initiative of this type relates to the visas held by international students, researchers and scholars, and journalists.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Much ink has been spilled by several generations of scholars in an effort to determine who wrote the bulk of the words that eventually found their way into print and then into the history books.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• academic
• doctor
• intellectual
• philosopher
• professor
• scientist
• student
• teacher