Erudition

The word Erudition came into Middle English from Latin. A scholar is erudite (Latin eruditus) when instruction and reading followed by digestion and contemplation have effaced all rudeness ("e- (ex-) + rudis"), that is to say smoothed away all raw, untrained incivility. Erudition is the depth, polish and breadth that is applied to education from further readings and understanding of literary works. The Latin word educare means to "lead out" from ignorance; hence the educated person has been led to think critically and with deductive logic. The erudite person has additionally become familiar with some more arcane information, has a deeper familiarity with the literature on the subject and a broader intellectual horizon.

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An erudite person will gain insight on particular subjects directly through books and study, rather than by following a course or scholarship in the subject. The famous Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi was erudite: he read and studied the classics on his own, and was deeply influenced by many philosophers. Among the most erudite of Roman writers was Marcus Terentius Varro. Among the most erudite English essay-writers is Sir Thomas Browne.

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A jurist who is learned, knows the law intimately and thoroughly; an erudite jurist by comparison also knows the history of the law in detail, and the law of other cultures.

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Erudition is recognizable and reflected in a literary work since an erudite writer will usually have a general knowledge spanning different fields. When such universal scholars are also at the forefront of several fields they are sometimes called "polymaths", when they are not or are only at the forefront of individual fields (sometimes in a figurehead, or leadership capacity), they are sometimes called "polyhistor"s.

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Middle English: Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken from around the 12th century to the 15th century centuries after the Norman invasion by in 1066 to the mid to late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, ...

Latin: Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages are descended from Latin, and many words based on Latin are found in other modern languages such as English. The ...

Reading: Reading may be...