Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to James Smithson, an English scientific man and philanthropist (died 1829), who left a legacy to the United States government to found at Washington an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge; specifically, noting this institution or its operations: as, Smithsonian Reports.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to the Englishman J. L. M. Smithson, or to the national institution of learning which he endowed at Washington, D. C..

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to James Smithson (1764–1829), British mineralogist and chemist whose bequest was used to set up the Smithsonian Institution in the United States.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Smithson +‎ -ian

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