Deep, extensive learning. See synonyms at knowledge.
erudition
Dictionary:
er·u·di·tion (ĕr'yə-dĭsh'ən, ĕr'ə-)  |
| Thesaurus: erudition |
noun
- Known facts, ideas, and skill that have been imparted: education, instruction, knowledge, learning, scholarship, science. See knowledge/ignorance.
| Devil's Dictionary: erudition |
A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce
n.
Dust shaken out of a book into an empty skull.
So wide his erudition's mighty span,
He knew Creation's origin and plan
And only came by accident to grief --
He thought, poor man, 'twas right to be a thief.
Romach Pute
| Word Tutor: erudition |
IN BRIEF: Extensive knowledge of literature, history and language.
The university was noted for its literature department and its encouragement of erudition.
| Wikipedia: Erudition |
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Look up erudition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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Look up erudite in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
The word erudition came into Middle English from Latin. A scholar is erudite (Latin eruditus) when instruction and reading followed by digestion and contemplation have effaced all rudeness ("e- (ex-) + rudis"), that is to say smoothed away all raw, untrained incivility. Common usage has blurred the distinction from "learned".
Meaning
Erudition is the depth, polish and breadth that is applied to education from further readings and understanding of literary works. The Latin word educare means to "lead out" from ignorance; hence an educated person has come to think critically and logically. An erudite person has both deep and broad familiarity with a certain subject, often gained through study and extensive reading of the subject's literature rather than formal scholarship.
For example, a jurist is learned, and knows the law intimately and thoroughly. A jurist who is also erudite may additionally know the history of the law in detail, as well as the laws of other cultures. Broad knowledge in the form of social Erudition is present in a literary work when its author incorporates knowledge and insights spanning many different fields. When such universal scholars are also at the forefront of several fields, they are sometimes called a polyhistor, or a polymath (though the two can mean different things. See either article for further discussion).
The Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi was erudite: he read and studied the classics and was deeply influenced by many philosophers. Other erudite writers include the Roman Marcus Terentius Varro, the English essayist Sir Thomas Browne and the French essayist Michel de Montaigne. The 29 year-old Virchand Gandhi was known to impress with his tremendous erudition.
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Copyrights:
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Antonyms. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Devil's Dictionary. Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, 1911 Read more |
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| Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved. eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; free trial. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Erudition". Read more |
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