scholar
Americannoun
-
a learned or erudite person, especially one who has profound knowledge of a particular subject.
- Synonyms:
- savant
-
a student; pupil.
-
a student who has been awarded a scholarship.
noun
-
a learned person, esp in the humanities
-
a person, esp a child, who studies; pupil
-
a student of merit at an educational establishment who receives financial aid, esp from an endowment given for such a purpose
-
a school pupil
Synonym Usage
See pupil 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing scholar
Unit 2: Pivotal Words and Phrases
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The Renaissance and Early Modern European History - Introductory
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Dwight D. Eisenhower, "The Military-Industrial Complex" (1961)
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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.
Beijing has "mixed feelings" about the growing partnership between Pyongyang and Moscow, says Lee Seong-hyon, a visiting scholar at the Harvard University Asia Center.
From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026
Seong-Hyon Lee, a visiting scholar at the Harvard University Asia Center, also said Beijing is shifting towards "underwriting regime durability" rather than seeking to coerce North Korea into denuclearisation.
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
Your mom is a well-known scholar of Persian food.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026
Daisoon Kim is a scholar at the Andersen Institute for Economics & Finance.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 1, 2026
“Someday, I’m going to be a famous scholar of the temple.”
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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.
