Polymath and polyhistor compared[edit] Many dictionaries of word origins list these words as synonyms or as words with very similar meanings. Thomas Moore took the words as corresponding to similarly erudite "polys" in one of his poems, The Devil Among Scholars:[12] Off I fly, careering far In chase of Pollys, prettier far Than any of their namesakes are —The Polymaths and Polyhistors, Polyglots and all their sisters. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the words mean practically the same; "the classical Latin word polyhistor was used exclusively, and the Greek word frequently, of Alexander Polyhistor", but polymathist appeared later, and then polymath. Thus today, regardless of any differentiation they may have had when originally coined, they are often taken to mean the same thing. The root terms histor and math have similar meanings in their etymological antecedents (to learn, learned, knowledge), though with some initial and ancillarily added differing qualities. Innate in historíā (Greek and Latin) is that the learning takes place via inquiry and narrative. Hístōr also implies that the polyhistor displays erudition and wisdom. From Proto-Indo-European it shares a root with the word "wit". Inquiry and narrative are specific sets of pedagogical and research heuristics. Polyhistoric is the corresponding adjective. The word polyhistory (meaning varied learning), when used, is often derogatory (citation needed).
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:21:15 +0000
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