polymath

• polumathe, polymathe [both 17th century]

First attested in 1624; from the Ancient Greek πολυμαθής (polumathḗs, “having learnt much”), from πολύς (polús, “much”) + μάθη (máthē) (mathē, “learning”; from μανθάνω (manthánō), manthanō “I learn”); compare opsimath, philomath, polyhistor, polymathic, polymathist, and polymathy, as well as the French polymathe.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒlɪmæθ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑliˌmæθ/, /ˈpɑlɪmæθ/

polymath (plural polymaths)

1. A person with extraordinarily broad and comprehensive knowledge.
   • 1624, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy (2^nd edn.), p.6:

     To be thought and held Polumathes and Polihistors.

• polyhistor
• renaissance man

• monomath

• factotum, handyman, jack of all trades, sciolist

• automath
• polymathy
• polymathic
• polymathist

• “polymath, n. (a.)” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]
• “polymath, n. and adj.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [3rd ed., September 2006]