polymath

polymath

English

WOTD – 1 March 2008

Alternative forms

• polumathe, polymathe [both 17th century]

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πολυμαθής (polumathḗs, “having learnt much”), first attested in 1624. From πολύς (polús, “much”) + μανθάνω (manthánō, “to learn”). Compare opsimath, philomath, polyhistor, polymathic, polymathist, and polymathy.

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.

   • 2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques”, in RAIL, number 947, page 56:

     A bit of a polymath, he was crucial in the early development of the railways in this country.

Synonyms

• polyhistor
• Renaissance man

Antonyms

• monomath

Coordinate terms

• factotum, handyman, jack of all trades, sciolist

Derived terms

• polymathic

Related terms

• automath
• polymathy
• polymathist

Translations

person with extraordinarily broad and comprehensive knowledge

Ancient Greek: πολυΐστωρ m (poluḯstōr) Arabic: عَلَّامَة‎ (ar) (ʿallāma), بحر العلوم‎ Chinese: Mandarin: 學識淵博的人／学识渊博的人 (xuéshí yuānbó de rén), 博學的人／博学的人 (bóxué de rén) Czech: renesanční člověk m, polyhistor m Dutch: veelweter (nl) m, alleskunner (nl) m, renaissancemens m Finnish: monitietäjä, polyhistori, yleisnero (fi) French: polymathe (fr) m or f, homme de la Renaissance m Galician: polímata m or f German: Polyhistor (de) m, Universalgelehrter (de) m Greek: πολυμαθής (el) m (polymathís) Icelandic: fjölfræðingur Italian: erudito (it) m, uomo universale m Latin: homō ūniversālis m Macedonian: енциклопеди́ст m (enciklopedíst), еруди́т m (erudít) Occitan: polimata m or f Ottoman Turkish: علامه‎ (allame) Persian: همه‌چیزدان‎ (hamečīzdān), پردانش‎ (porrdāneš) 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) Uyghur: ئەللامە‎ (ellame)

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]