dunce
See also: dūncè
English edit
Etymology edit
1530, named after John Duns Scotus (c. 1266–1308).[1] Scotus was ironically a well-known Scottish thinker; his followers, however, opposed the philosophers of the Renaissance, and thus "dunce" was first used to describe someone rejecting new knowledge in 1530; later, any stupid person.[1]
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
dunce (plural dunces)
- An unintelligent person.
- Synonyms: idiot; see also Thesaurus:idiot
- c. 1713, Jonathan Swift, “Thoughts on Various Subjects”, in The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, volume 5:
- When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign; that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.
- 1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, section XXX:
- [...] Dunce, / Dotard, a-dozing at the very nonce, / After a life spent training for the sight!
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
unintelligent person — see also idiot
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References edit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “dunce”, Wordorigins.org, Dave Wilton, Sunday, June 11, 2006.
Further reading edit
- “dunce”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.