erudition

[ er-yoo-dish-uhn, er-oo- ]

noun

1. knowledge acquired by study, research, etc.; learning; scholarship.

Other Words From

• eru·dition·al adjective
• noner·u·dition noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of erudition¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin ērudītiōn- (stem of ērudītiō ) “an instruction.” See erudite, -ion

Synonym Study

See learning.

Example Sentences

“So, we thought Justice Chandrachud would use his erudition and brilliant mind to do a lot of good for the citizens. But he has been disappointing,” she said.

From BBC

“What’s nice about Frasier’s erudition is he’s actually quite specific about what he wants to say, so the jumble of words is not really unconnected to what he’s trying to make clear. The specificity makes it easy to remember; it’s really like doing Shakespeare. If there’s too much chat in the language, I’ll suggest winnowing it down so it makes a more concise point.”

From Los Angeles Times

First published in 2009, “Bluets” was reissued in 2017 after the success of Nelson’s similarly hybrid 2015 work, “The Argonauts,” which heralded a publishing fad for essay-memoirs that combined ambient erudition with diaristic introspection.

From New York Times

Solomon, not well-known today, was a Harvard-educated bon vivant known for his erudition in new art’s European history.

From Los Angeles Times

The language in these letters is just remarkable, it's two men in love with their own sense of erudition.

From Salon

Related Words

• refinement