erudite
See also: érudite
English
WOTD – 14 June 2006
Etymology
From Latin ērudītus, participle of ērudiō (“educate, train”), from e- (“out of”) + rudis (“rude, unskilled”). Doublet of erudit.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɛɹ.ʊ.daɪt/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈɛɹ.(j)u.daɪt/, /ˈɛɹ.(j)ə.daɪt/
Audio (US) (file)
Adjective
erudite (comparative more erudite, superlative most erudite)
- Learned, scholarly, with emphasis on knowledge gained from books.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:learned
- 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter XII, in The Scarlet Letter:
- At all events, if it involved any secret information in regard to old Roger Chillingworth, it was in a tongue unknown to the erudite clergyman, and did but increase the bewilderment of his mind.
- 1913, Edith Wharton, “Chapter 43”, in The Custom of the Country:
- Elmer Moffatt had been magnificent, rolling out his alternating effects of humour and pathos, stirring his audience by moving references to the Blue and the Gray, convulsing them by a new version of Washington and the Cherry Tree […] , dazzling them by his erudite allusions and apt quotations.
- 1960 January, “New reading on railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 26:
- THE CONCISE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF WORLD RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES. Edited by P. Ransome-Wallis. Hutchinson. 50s. [...] The most erudite locomotive engineer could not fail to excavate new knowledge from this remarkably comprehensive volume, [...]
- 2006 September 17, Jeff Israely, “Preaching Controversy”, in Time:
- Perhaps his erudite mind does not quite yet grasp how to transform his beloved scholarly explorations into effective papal politics.
Related terms
- eruditely
- erudition
- rude
Translations
scholarly, learned
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Noun
erudite (plural erudites)
- a learned or scholarly person
Italian
Adjective
erudite f pl
- feminine plural of erudito
Participle
erudite f pl
- feminine plural of erudito
Noun
erudite f pl
- plural of erudita
Verb
erudite
- inflection of erudire:
- second-person plural present indicative
- second-person plural imperative
Anagrams
- deuteri, udirete
Latin
Etymology 1
From ērudītus (“educated, accomplished”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /eː.ruˈdiː.teː/, [eːrʊˈd̪iːt̪eː]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /e.ruˈdi.te/, [eruˈd̪iːt̪e]
Adverb
ērudītē (comparative ērudītius, superlative ērudītissimē)
- learnedly, with erudition
Related terms
- ērudiō
- ērudītiō
- ērudītulus
- ērudītus
Etymology 2
Inflected forms
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /eː.ruˈdiː.te/, [eːrʊˈd̪iːt̪ɛ]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /e.ruˈdi.te/, [eruˈd̪iːt̪e]
Participle
ērudīte
- vocative masculine singular of ērudītus
References
- “erudite”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, 1st edition. (Oxford University Press)