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. By surface analysis, poly- +‎ math.

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) (ʕallāma), 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 (cs) 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, polimate m or f, polimata m or f
• Latin: homō ūniversālis m
• Macedonian: енциклопеди́ст m (enciklopedíst), еруди́т m (erudít)
• Occitan: polimata m or f
• Ottoman Turkish: علامه (allame)
• Persian: همه‌چیزدان (hame-čizdân), پردانش (porrdâneš)
• 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
• Sicilian: spertu m, pulìmatu m, pulìmata m or f
• 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]