different between polymath vs erudition

English

Alternative forms

• polumathe, polymathe [both 17th century]

Etymology

First attested in 1624; from the Ancient Greek ????????? (polumath?s, “having learnt much”), from ????? (polús, “much”) + ???? (máth?) (math?, “learning”; from ??????? (manthán?), manthan? “I learn”); compare opsimath, philomath, polyhistor, polymathic, polymathist, and polymathy, as well as the French polymathe.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p?l?mæ?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p?li?mæ?/, /?p?l?mæ?/

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.

Synonyms

• polyhistor
• renaissance man

Antonyms

• monomath

Coordinate terms

• factotum, handyman, jack of all trades, sciolist

Related terms

• automath
• polymathy
• polymathic
• polymathist

Translations

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]

English

Etymology

[15th Century] From Middle French érudition, from Latin eruditio (“an instructing, learning, erudition”), from erudire (“to instruct, educate, cultivate”, literally “free from rudeness”), from e (“out”) + rudis (“rude”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?????d???n/

Noun

erudition (countable and uncountable, plural eruditions)

1. Profound knowledge acquired from learning and scholarship.
2. The refinement, polish and knowledge that education confers.

Synonyms

• (profound knowledge): knowledge, information, learning, lore, scholarship, scholarism

Related terms

• erudite
• rude

Translations

Further reading

• erudition in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• erudition in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• erudition at OneLook Dictionary Search