Standard Lemma guide

Erasmus

name · noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ɪˈɹæzməs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH0 R AE1 Z M AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam), a Dutch humanist and theologian.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

A male given name from Ancient Greek, rare in English.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

name

Meaning 3

Ellipsis of Erasmus Programme, a student exchange programme established in 1987.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: European-Union, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

An exchange student taking part in an Erasmus Programme.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A study period as part of the Erasmus Programme.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Dutch humanist and theologian who was the leading Renaissance scholar of northern Europe; although his criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church led to the Reformation, he opposed violence and condemned Martin Luther (1466-1536)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Desiderius Erasmus, Gerhard Gerhards, Geert Geerts

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: humanist, theologian, theologist, theologizer, theologiser

History

Etymology

From Medieval Latin Erasmus. The EU student exchange programme is named after Erasmus of Rotterdam, and also a backronym for “European [Community] Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students”.

Across languages

Translations

49 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: Еразъм Ротердамски (Erazǎm Roterdamski) — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Bulgarian: Еразъм (Erazǎm) — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Chinese Mandarin: 伊拉斯謨 /伊拉斯谟 (Yīlāsīmó) — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Danish: Erasmus — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Danish: Erasmus af Rotterdam — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Danish: Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Dutch: Desiderius Erasmus — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Dutch: Desiderius Erasmus van Rotterdam — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Esperanto: Erasmo — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Esperanto: Erasmo de Roterdamo — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Estonian: Erasmus Rotterdamist — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Finnish: Erasmus Rotterdamilainen — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Finnish: Erasmus — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • French: Érasme — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • French: Érasme de Rotterdam — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Georgian: დეზიდერიუს ერაზმუს როტერდამელი (deziderius erazmus roṭerdameli) — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Georgian: ერაზმუს როტერდამელი (erazmus roṭerdameli) — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • German: Desiderius Erasmus von Rotterdam — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • German: Erasmus — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Greek: Ντεζιντέριους Εράσμους Ροτεροντάμους (Ntezintérious Erásmous Roterontámous) — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Greek: Έρασμος (Érasmos) — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Greek: Έρασμος του Ρότερνταμ (Érasmos tou Róterntam) — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Ido: Erasmus de Rotterdam — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Ido: Desiderius Erasmus de Rotterdam — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Italian: Erasmo da Rotterdam — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Norwegian Bokmål: Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Norwegian Bokmål: Erasmus — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Norwegian Bokmål: Desiderius Erasmus av Rotterdam — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: Erasmus — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: Erasmus frå Rotterdam — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Pennsylvania German: Erasmus von Rotterdam — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Pennsylvania German: Erasmus Desiderius von Rotterdam — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Polish: Erazm — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Portuguese: Erasmo de Roterdão — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Portuguese: Erasmo de Roterdã — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Russian: Эра́зм Роттерда́мский (Erázm Rotterdámskij) — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Spanish: Erasmo de Róterdam — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Spanish: Erasmo de Rotterdam — Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam
  • Bulgarian: Еразъм (Erazǎm) — male given name
  • Danish: Erasmus — male given name
  • French: Érasme — male given name
  • Greek: Έρασμος (Érasmos) — male given name
  • Hungarian: Erazmus — male given name
  • Italian: Erasmo — male given name
  • Norwegian: Rasmus — male given name
  • Portuguese: Erasmo — male given name
  • Russian: Эра́зм (Erázm) — male given name
  • Spanish: Erasmo — male given name
Real reading context

Erasmus in complete knowledge articles