polymaths
Experts in everything
Polymaths are people with expertise across multiple unrelated fields—the Renaissance ideal of broad mastery rather than narrow specialization.
Leonardo da Vinci is the archetypal polymath: painter, engineer, anatomist, inventor.
The term often carries admiration for intellectual range: She's one of those polymaths who can discuss quantum physics and medieval poetry with equal authority.
Extensive scholarly knowledge
- curiosityDesire to learn
- versatilityCapacity for varied applications
- brillianceExceptional intelligence or luster
- sagacityPenetrating mental acuity
insight · adaptability · resourcefulness · intellectual · multitalented · cross-disciplinary · interdisciplinary · encyclopedic
Greek founder of formal logic
- MichelangeloFlorentine sculptor and painter
- GalileoRenaissance astronomer from Italy
- Benjamin FranklinColonial American polymath statesman
- LeibnizBaroque-era polymath philosopher-mathematician
Goethe · Leonardo · Newton · Hildegard · Copernicus · Gutenberg · Archimedes · Thomas Jefferson
Person of profound learning
- generalistOne with broad expertise
- jack-of-all-tradesMultiskilled non-specialist
- all-rounderMulti-skilled person
- sageWisdom keeper or seasoning
scholar · virtuoso · prodigy · mastermind · thinker · philosopher · intellectual · theorist
Philosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- patronageSupporter's financial backing
- treatisesFormal scholarly compositions
- inventionsOriginal creations or devices
- discoveriesNewly revealed facts
manuscripts · contributions · breakthroughs · influence · synthesis · innovation · scholarship · enlightenment
erudition
Extensive scholarly knowledge
- curiosityDesire to learn
- versatilityCapacity for varied applications
- brillianceExceptional intelligence or luster
sagacity · insight · adaptability · resourcefulness · intellectual · multitalented · cross-disciplinary · interdisciplinary · encyclopedic · knowledgeable
Aristotle
Greek founder of formal logic
- MichelangeloFlorentine sculptor and painter
- GalileoRenaissance astronomer from Italy
- Benjamin FranklinColonial American polymath statesman
Leibniz · Goethe · Leonardo · Newton · Hildegard · Copernicus · Gutenberg · Archimedes · Thomas Jefferson · Omar Khayyam
savant
Person of profound learning
- generalistOne with broad expertise
- jack-of-all-tradesMultiskilled non-specialist
- all-rounderMulti-skilled person
sage · scholar · virtuoso · prodigy · mastermind · thinker · philosopher · intellectual · theorist · visionary
humanism
Philosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- patronageSupporter's financial backing
- treatisesFormal scholarly compositions
- inventionsOriginal creations or devices
discoveries · manuscripts · contributions · breakthroughs · influence · synthesis · innovation · scholarship · enlightenment · classicism
philosophy
Study of fundamental truths
- astronomyScience of celestial objects
- geometryScience of spatial relationships
- inventionNew device or method
architecture · painting · sculpture · music · poetry · medicine · engineering · alchemy · botany · linguistics
- geniusesgenius, brainiac, prodigy, Einstein, intellect
- intellectualsscholar, intellectual, academic, thinker, philosopher
- Ancient ThinkersAristotle, Plato, Socrates, Confucius, Thales
- artist biographiesbiographical sketches, visual artists
polymathsspecialists
Focused field authorities
one-trick ponies · experts · hedgehogs · technocrats · technicians
polymathsignoramuses
Profoundly uninformed persons
know-nothings · dunces · illiterates · philistines · simpletons