learnedism

L1E1A1R1N1E1D2I1S1M3
UK/ˈlɜːnɪdɪzəm/US/ˈlɚnɪdɪzəm/

noun

A word acquired through formal education rather than through childhood language acquisition.

Scrabble 13

Meanings

nounlearnedism (plural learnedisms)

plural learnedisms

  1. especiallyhuman sciencesA word acquired through formal education rather than through childhood language acquisition.

    Furthermore, περ is productive in the Italiot texts, presumably as a learnedism rather than a popular survival.

    1998 July 15, Nick Nicholas, “το ανερ and ο οποιοs: Untangling Medieval Greek Relativisation”, in Themes in Greek Linguistics, volume II, The University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 294
    2 more examples

    Katharevousa τὸ πλοῖον and the demotic learnedism τὸ πλοῖο mean 'ship' in general. Demotic πλοῖο is stylistically more elevated than its synonym τὸ καράβι.

    1975 November 29, Kostas Kazazis, “Greek Reactions to an Ancient Greek Primer for Turks”, in Modern Philology, volume 73, number 2, The University of Chicago Press, →DOI, page 164

    I also hear clearly his adoption of a perspective indexed by his use of anthropological terms (for example, he repeatedly uses the word boribot, “context,” a true learnedism, in his current conversations[…]

    2020 May 18, Michael Herzfeld, “Whose Rights to Which Past? Archeologists, Anthropologists, and the Ethics and Aesthetics of Heritage in the Global Hierarchy of Value”, in David Shankland, editor, Archaeology and Anthropology: Past, Present and Future, Routledge, →ISBN, page 59

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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