polymath

English

WOTD – 1 March 2008

Alternative forms

• polumathe, polymathe [both 17th century]

Etymology

First attested in 1624; from the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek πολυμαθής (polumathḗs, “having learnt much”), from πολύς (polús, “much”) + μάθη (máthē) (mathē, “learning”; from μανθάνω (manthánō), manthanō “I learn”); compare opsimath, philomath, polyhistor, polymathic, polymathist, and polymathy, as well as the French polymathe.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒlɪmæθ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑliˌmæθ/, /ˈpɑlɪmæθ/

Audio (US)

(file)

Noun

polymath (plural polymaths)

1. A person with extraordinarily broad and comprehensive knowledge.
   • 1624, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy (2^nd edn.), p.6:

     To be thought and held Polumathes and Polihistors.

Synonyms

• polyhistor
• renaissance man

Antonyms

• monomath

Coordinate terms

• factotum, handyman, jack of all trades, sciolist

Related terms

• automath
• polymathy
• polymathic
• polymathist

Translations

person with extraordinarily broad and comprehensive knowledge

• Ancient Greek: πολυΐστωρ m (poluḯstōr)
• Arabic: عَلَّامَة (ar) (ʕallāma)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 學識淵博的人／学识渊博的人, 学识渊博的人 (xuéshí yuānbó de rén), 博學的人／博学的人, 博学的人 (bóxué de rén)

• Czech: renesanční člověk m, polyhistor m
• Finnish: monitietäjä, polyhistori, yleisnero (fi)
• French: polymathe (fr) m or f
• Galician: polímata m or f
• German: Polyhistor (de) m, Universalgelehrter (de) m
• Greek: πολυμαθής (el) m (polymathís)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Icelandic: fjölfræðingur
• Italian: erudito (it) m
• Ottoman Turkish: علامه (allame)
• Polish: człowiek renesansu (pl) m, encyklopedysta (pl) m, uczony (pl) m, polihistor (pl) m, polimat (pl) m
• Portuguese: polímata (pt) m or f, polímato m
• Russian: эруди́т (ru) m (erudít), учёный (ru) m (učónyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: polihistor (sh) m
• Spanish: polímata (es) m or f
• Swedish: polyhistor (sv) c, universalbegåvning c, universalsnille n, universalgeni (sv) n
• Turkish: allame (tr)

References

• “polymath, n. (a.)” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]
• “polymath, n. and adj.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [3rd ed., September 2006]