Standard Lemma guide

erudite

adj · noun · 3 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɛɹ.ʊ.daɪt/
  • US: /ˈɛɹ.(j)u.daɪt/
  • US: /ˈɛɹ.(j)ə.daɪt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: EH1 R AH0 D AY2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Learned, scholarly, with emphasis on knowledge gained from books.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The professor gave an erudite lecture that impressed everyone in the audience.
  • His erudite knowledge of ancient history made him a sought-after speaker.
  • She was praised for her erudite contributions to the academic journal.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: academical, clueful, cultivated, educated, erudite, in the know, knowledgeable, knowledgeful, knowsome, learned, savvy, scholarly, smart, sussed, switched on, up on, well-informed

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a learned or scholarly person

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

having or showing profound knowledge

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a learned jurist
  • an erudite professor

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: learned

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin ērudītus, participle of ērudiō (“educate, train”), from e- (“out of”) + rudis (“rude, unskilled”). Doublet of erudit.

Across languages

Translations

48 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: ерудиран (erudiran) — scholarly, learned
  • Bulgarian: начетен (načeten) — scholarly, learned
  • Catalan: erudit — scholarly, learned
  • Chinese Mandarin: 博學 /博学 (bóxué) — scholarly, learned
  • Chinese Mandarin: 有學問 /有学问 (yǒu xuéwèn) — scholarly, learned
  • Chinese Mandarin: 淵博 /渊博 (yuānbó) — scholarly, learned
  • Danish: lærd — scholarly, learned
  • Dutch: geleerd — scholarly, learned
  • Dutch: belezen — scholarly, learned
  • Dutch: erudiet — scholarly, learned
  • Esperanto: dokta — scholarly, learned
  • Faroese: lærdur — scholarly, learned
  • Finnish: oppinut — scholarly, learned
  • Finnish: sivistynyt — scholarly, learned
  • French: érudit — scholarly, learned
  • Galician: erudito — scholarly, learned
  • German: belesen — scholarly, learned
  • German: gelehrt — scholarly, learned
  • German: gebildet — scholarly, learned
  • Greek: πολυμαθής (polymathís) — scholarly, learned
  • Greek: λόγιος (lógios) — scholarly, learned
  • Hebrew: חבר אוריינות (chavér orianút) — scholarly, learned
  • Hungarian: művelt — scholarly, learned
  • Hungarian: tanult — scholarly, learned
  • Interlingua: erudite — scholarly, learned
  • Irish: léannta — scholarly, learned
  • Italian: erudito — scholarly, learned
  • Central Kurdish: زانیار (zanyar) — scholarly, learned
  • Latin: ērudītus — scholarly, learned
  • Macedonian: на́читан (náčitan) — scholarly, learned
  • Macedonian: у́чен (účen) — scholarly, learned
  • Macedonian: ерудити́вен (eruditíven) — scholarly, learned
  • Norwegian Bokmål: lærd — scholarly, learned
  • Occitan: erudit — scholarly, learned
  • Persian: با سواد — scholarly, learned
  • Portuguese: erudito — scholarly, learned
  • Romanian: erudit — scholarly, learned
  • Russian: эруди́рованный (erudírovannyj) — scholarly, learned
  • Russian: начи́танный (načítannyj) — scholarly, learned
  • Russian: учёный (učónyj) — scholarly, learned
  • Slovak: erudovaný — scholarly, learned
  • Spanish: erudito — scholarly, learned
  • Spanish: docto — scholarly, learned
  • Swedish: lärd — scholarly, learned
  • Tagalog: matalisik — scholarly, learned
  • Vietnamese: có học thức — scholarly, learned
  • Vietnamese: bác học — scholarly, learned
  • Yiddish: לומדיש (lomdish) — scholarly, learned
Real reading context

erudite in complete knowledge articles