einstein

plural einsteins

1. datedOne mole of photons, regardless of frequency, as used to measure irradiance.

   The einstein (symbol E) is an obsolete unit with two conflicting definitions.

2. informalA genius; a very smart person.

   He's a prodigy — they call him their little einstein.

   Synonyms: boffin, brain, brainiac, bright spark, egghead, geek, nerd, Poindexter

   1. broadlyinformalsarcasticAn idiot; a very stupid person.

      Yeah, that guy is a real einstein — he always finds a way to mess up the simplest order.

      Synonyms: boffin, brain, brainiac, bright spark, egghead, geek, nerd, Poindexter

plural einsteins

1. mathematicsA shape that can be repeated to cover a plane with a nonrepeating pattern.

   In less poetic terms, an einstein is an “aperiodic monotile,” a shape that tiles a plane, or an infinite two-dimensional flat surface, but only in a nonrepeating pattern. (The term “einstein” comes from the German “ein stein,” or “one stone” — more loosely, “one tile” or “one shape.”)

   2023 March 28, Siobhan Roberts, “Elusive ‘Einstein’ Solves a Longstanding Math Problem. And it all began with a hobbyist “messing about and experimenting with shapes””, in New York Times, retrieved 28 Mar 2023

plural Einsteins

1. Albert Einstein, the world-famous 20th-century theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity.

   Gaston: Picasso, Einstein, Schmendiman. Somehow it doesn't have a ring.

   1993, Steve Martin, Picasso at the Lapin Agile

   4 more examples

   Men of Science More or Less Agog Over Results of Eclipse Observations. EINSTEIN THEORY TRIUMPHS Stars Not Where They Seemed or Were Calculated to be, but Nobody Need Worry. A BOOK FOR 12 WISE MEN No More in All the World Could Comprehend it, Said Einstein When His Daring Publishers Accepted it.

   1919 November 10, “LIGHTS ALL ASKEW IN THE HEAVENS”, in New York Times

   Einstein said he could never understand it all / Planets spinning through space

   1977, James Taylor, “Secret O' Life”, in JT, Columbia Records

   We're sitting in a coffee shop in Sunnyvale, California. It's late. I've had a few beers, and my dinner date has downed a few plum wines. I peer deep into his eyes, trying to figure out why so many people throughout the high tech universe think Henry Massalin could be the Einstein of our time.

   1996 December, Gary Andrew Poole, “Qua”, in Wired, →ISSN

   If Einstein, my dear / Were a toll booth cashier / I imagine he too would be [bored]

   2000 January 22, Listener Limerick Challenge: Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me!, spoken by Carl Kasell, via National Public Radio

2. A surname from German.

plural Einsteins

1. sarcasticsometimesAn extremely clever or intelligent person.

   Good job, Einstein, thinking you could grab the wires with your pliers.

   1 more example

   Can you believe he's just a kindergartener? It looks like they've got an Einstein in the family.

   Synonyms: Albert Einstein, Buddha, clever clogs, clever dick, know-all, know-it-all, smart aleck, smart ass