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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. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Reading is a process of retrieving and comprehending some form of stored information or ideas. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Logic, from Classical Greek λόγος (logos), originally meaning the word, or what is spoken, (but coming to mean thought or reason) is most often said to be the study of criteria for the evaluation of arguments, although the exact definition of logic is a matter of controversy among philosophers. ...

Word meaning suffers entropy after years of vulgar usage. In this way erudition has come to mean any learned person. They are not the same. An erudite person is necessarily learned but a learned person is not necessarily erudite. The critical difference is that the erudite person strove to overcome rudeness while the merely learned did not, herein lies the virtue.

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. Giacomo Leopardi Giacomo Leopardi, Count (June 29, 1798 – June 14, 1837) was a major Italian Romantic poet, often considered alongside Dante and Petrarch as one of Italys greatest poets and thinkers. ... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... Marcus Terentius Varro ([[116 BC]–27 BC), also known as Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his contemporary Varro Atacinus, was a Roman scholar and writer, who the Romans came to call the most learned of all the Romans. ... Sir Thomas Browne (October 19, 1605 – October 19, 1682) was an English author of varied works that disclose his wide learning in diverse fields including medicine, religion, science and the esoteric. ...

A jurist is one who is learned, and knows the law intimately and thoroughly; by comparison, an erudite jurist also knows the history of the law in detail, as well as the laws of other cultures. A jurist is a professional who studies, develops, applies or otherwise deals with the law. ... Weighing scales represent the way law balances peoples interests For other senses of this word, see Law (disambiguation). ...

Erudition is evident in a literary work when an erudite writer possesses a general knowledge spanning many 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 "polyhistors." Leonardo da Vinci is seen as an epitome of the Renaissance man or polymath. ...   This culture-related article is a stub. ...

See also

• Learning
  
• Reading

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External links

• "Logical Rudeness"