polymathic

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English polymath

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Indo-European *-ikos

Proto-Italic *-ikos

Latin -icuslbor.

Old French -iquebor.

▲

Latin -icusbor.

Middle English -ik

English -ic

English polymathic

From polymath + -ic.

Adjective

polymathic (comparative more polymathic, superlative most polymathic)

1. Pertaining to polymathy; acquainted with many branches of learning.

   Synonyms: (rare) multiscious, omnierudite

   • 2014 September 5, Rob Nixon, “Future Footprints”, in The New York Times Book Review‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 6 February 2026:

     Is it uncharitable to want a book that achieves so much to do more? Perhaps. Taken on its own terms, “The Human Age” is a dazzling achievement: immensely readable, lively, polymathic, audacious.

   • 2022 February 2, Max Abelson, “The Name of This Interviewee Is David Byrne”, in T: The New York Times Style Magazine‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 January 2026:

     In advance of a show of his drawings at New York’s Pace Gallery, the polymathic performer answered T’s Artist’s Questionnaire.

Derived terms

• polymathically

Translations

pertaining to polymathy

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 博學的 / 博学的 (bóxuéde)

• French: polymathique (fr)
• Indonesian: polimatik
• Spanish: polifacético

References

• “polymathic”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• ampholytic