polymath
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- polymathic adjective
- polymathy noun
Etymology
Origin of polymath
1615–25; < Greek polymathḗs learned, having learned much, equivalent to poly- poly- + -mathēs, adj. derivative of manthánein to learn
Explanation
A polymath is a person who knows a lot about a lot of subjects. If your friend is not only a brilliant physics student but has also published a poetry collection and won prizes at political debates, you can describe her as a polymath. You can think of a polymath as a classic "Renaissance man." Imagine Leonardo da Vinci, for example, who was not only an amazing artist, but also an engineer, inventor, mathematician, and much more. When a person's knowledge covers many different areas, he or she is a polymath. The Greek word for it is polymathes, "having learned much," with poly meaning "much," and manthanein meaning "learn."
Vocabulary lists containing polymath
This Week in Pop Culture: July 27–August 2, 2019
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This Week In Culture: August 15–21, 2020
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was tutored by his uncle, Étienne-Jean Delécluze, a polymath painter, art critic and novelist.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
Later this month, the world premiere of Kurtag's second opera "Die Stechardin" about the 18th-century love story of a German polymath and a flower girl will cap the centenary of his birth.
From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026
Tench is a polymath, a cross-genre equal-opportunity appreciator of great music.
From Salon • May 27, 2025
The Florentine Renaissance artist, engineer and polymath made the most famous picture of all time, a painted poplar panel that hangs in virtual isolation in the Salle des États at Paris’ Louvre Museum.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 18, 2024
Something of a polymath, he was a Fellow of All Souls College in Oxford, physician to Edward VI and to Queen Mary, and sometime general surveyor of mines and money for the Crown.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
