autodidact

A1U1T1O1D2I1D2A1C3T1
US/ˌɔːtoʊˈdaɪdækt/UK/ˈɔːtəʊdɪdækt/

noun

A self-taught person.

“Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the greatest autodidacts.”

Similar
automath
OriginAncient Greek αὐτοδίδακτος →
UncommonScrabble 14
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounautodidact (plural autodidacts)

plural autodidacts

  1. A self-taught person.

    Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the greatest autodidacts.

    1 more example

    For an autodidact, for somebody who plays by ear like me, the ukulele is ideal.

    2021, Pedro Mairal, The Woman from Uruguay, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 139

    Synonyms: automath

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA self-taught person.

Similar
automath
Also see
automath

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekαὐτοδίδακτος
  2. Englishautodidact

From Ancient Greek αὐτοδίδακτος (autodídaktos), from αὐτός (autós, “self”) + διδάσκω (didáskō, “I teach”). By surface analysis, auto- + didact.

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian самоук
  • самоук (samouk)a self-taught person
Catalan autodidacte
  • autodidactea self-taught person
Chinese Mandarin 自修者, 自學者 /自学者
  • 自修者 (zìxiū zhě)a self-taught person
  • 自學者 /自学者 (zìxué zhě)a self-taught person
Czech samouk
  • samouka self-taught person
Danish autodidakt
  • autodidakta self-taught person
Dutch autodidact, zelfgeleerde
  • autodidacta self-taught person
  • zelfgeleerdea self-taught person
Finnish itseoppinut
  • itseoppinuta self-taught person
French autodidacte
  • autodidactea self-taught person
German Autodidakt, Autodidaktin
  • Autodidakta self-taught person
  • Autodidaktina self-taught person
Hungarian autodidakta
  • autodidaktaa self-taught person
Indonesian autodidak, swadidik
  • autodidaka self-taught person
  • swadidika self-taught person
Italian autodidatto, autodidatta
  • autodidattoa self-taught person
  • autodidattaa self-taught person
Norwegian selvlært, autodidakt
  • selvlærta self-taught person
  • autodidakta self-taught person
Polish samouk, autodydakta
  • samouka self-taught person
  • autodydaktaa self-taught person
Portuguese autodidata
  • autodidataa self-taught person
Romanian autodidact
  • autodidacta self-taught person
Russian самоу́чка, автодида́кт
  • самоу́чка (samoúčka)a self-taught person
  • автодида́кт (avtodidákt)a self-taught person
Spanish autodidacta, autodidacto
  • autodidactaa self-taught person
  • autodidactoa self-taught person
Swedish autodidakt
  • autodidakta self-taught person
Turkish otodidakt
  • otodidakta self-taught person
Ukrainian самоу́к, автодида́кт
  • самоу́к (samoúk)a self-taught person
  • автодида́кт (avtodydákt)a self-taught person
Cite this entry
APA

autodidact. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/autodidact

MLA

“autodidact.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/autodidact. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “autodidact,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/autodidact.

Source: autodidact on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.