Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A person of great or varied learning.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A person of various learning. Also polymathist.
Wiktionary
- n. A person with extraordinarily broad and comprehensive knowledge.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a person of great and varied learning
Etymologies
- Greek polumathēs : polu-, poly- + manthanein, math-, to learn; see mendh- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“The word "polymath" was invented for a man like Nathan Myhrvold, who earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics by age 23, studied with Stephen Hawking, made millions as Microsoft's chief technology officer, and has lectured on topics as diverse as barbecuing and paleontology.”
“Ireland used to call a "polymath," for he professed at one time or another, in various universities, logic, metaphysics, Greek, and finally natural history.”
“One of Fred Pawlicki's friends called him a "polymath," which is just a fancy way of saying he's a pretty smart guy who's done a lot of different things.”
“I would like to contribute a few more based on my book experience over the last year about what a next generation, "polymath" analyst firm should aim for”
“Actually I think you will find that the word you are looking for is 'polymath'.”
“The word "polymath" teeters somewhere between Leonardo da Vinci and Stephen Fry.”
“I thank them because if I was not the real homeowner they just stopped someone robbing my house. polymath”
“From my friend Henry Gee (whose highly recommended blog is The End of the Pier Show, the show in question being Henry's many lives as science editor, fiction and non-fiction book author, palaenotologist, SF supremo, polymath, father and Person Who Lives in Norfolk These Days): Ansible 240 (July 2007)”
“The same day's paper features a story "Is this a work of art or just any old iron?" about how the writer, broadcaster, doctor and polymath Sir Jonathan Miller asked a passing scrap metal merchant to remove a rusting bath from his front garden -- only to find his three metal sculptures had also been over-enthusiastically taken.”
“Henry is a polymath: an erudite palaeontologist as well as author, editor and science-fiction buff.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘polymath’.
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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sentient
think words
wise, witty, smart, brilliant, sentient, extrapolate, imagination, intelligence, polymath, contemplate, calculate, create and 2 more...
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Bright Folk
Some words I come across in my legal studies, though not really legal jargon. And the usage doesn't shout, "hey, I think I'm smart", just simply, "this is what applies in this context."
verbose, inter alia, ostentatious, usurp, presumptuous, anachronistic, unfettered, sine qua non, amenable, subversive, irreducible, penumbra and 27 more...
cutlery "Attentive conversation is an emollient I lack sorely aboard the Prophetess & the doctor is a veritable polymath" (Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, 005.4). Jan 22, 2010