Etymology

brainiac

B3R1A1I1N1I1A1C3

Today it means: A very intelligent and usually studious, erudite person. Full definition →

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The story

Blend of brain + maniac, with influence from ENIAC, the name of an early computer. The term was coined as the name of the fictional supervillain Brainiac in the Superman series and first appeared in Action Comics comic book #242 in July, 1958. By surface analysis, brainy + -ac.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.