erudite

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“
This sort of name sounds erudite, and the sufferer may find it somehow reassuring that his ailment at least has an imposing title, albeit no known cause and perhaps no cure.

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. adjective Characterized by erudition; learned. See Synonyms at learned.
  2. Word History
    One might like to be erudite but hesitate to be rude. This preference is supported by the etymological relationship between erudite and rude. Erudite comes from the Latin adjective ērudītus, "well-instructed, learned,” from the past participle of the verb ērudīre, "to educate, train.” The verb is in turn formed from the prefix ex-, "out, out of,” and the adjective rudis, "untaught, untrained,” the source of our word rude. The English word erudite is first recorded in a work possibly written before 1425 with the senses "instructed, learned.” Erudite meaning "learned” is supposed to have become rare except in sarcastic use during the latter part of the 19th century, but the word now seems to have been restored to favor.

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Examples

  • They are erudite, accurate, and scholarly; they are original in thought, they are lucid and stimulating in their presentation and interpretation of fact, and they are often admirable in expression. —  Edward MacDowell
  • To us the idea of commissioning a political manifesto from a philologist seems eccentric; but erudition and the erudite were never so highly prized as in the seventeenth century. —  Life of John Milton
  • How he lived, for a year or two after this, -- erudite pen and braggart tongue his only resources, -- were tragical to say. —  History of Friedrich II of Prussia
  • This sort of name sounds erudite, and the sufferer may find it somehow reassuring that his ailment at least has an imposing title, albeit no known cause and perhaps no cure. —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XI No 3
  • "I wonder." —  Citizen Of The Galaxy
 

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Erudite has been looked up 1066 times, favorited 5 times, listed 157 times, and commented on 3 times.

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English erudit, from Latin ērudītus, past participle of ērudīre, to instruct : ē-, ex-, ex- + rudis, rough, untaught; see rude.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French érudit = Spanish Portuguese Italian erudito, from Latin eruditus, learned, accomplished, well informed, past participle of erudire, instruct, educate, cultivate, literally free from rudeness, from e, out, + rudis, rude: see rude.
 

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/ˈɛrudaɪt/
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