Pundit (from the Hindi payndita, “learned man,” ultimately from Sanskrit payndita-s): Usually employed to refer to commentators, analysts, or consultants, often with a negative sense because of the widespread realization that one can find “experts” who will support or attack any position one favors or opposes.ġ7.
Maven (from the Yiddish word, meyvn, “one who understands,” ultimately from the Hebrew term mebhin): Generally used in the sense of someone with expertise in a sophisticated area of study or skill.ġ6. The English form master denotes both an academic leader (hence “master of arts” and so on) and one who is eminent in any given field of endeavor.ġ5. Maestro (from the Italian word for “master,” ultimately from the Latin term magister): A term for a gifted composer, later extended to orchestra conductors and now sometimes used facetiously to refer to those with pretensions of genius. Initiate (from the Latin word initium, “beginning”): Originally, this word identified one who had undergone or was about to undergo an initiation ceremony, but now it is also a designation for one privy to certain knowledge or skills.ġ3-14. Hotshot: Originally referred to a headstrong person or a headlong object it now is usually employed in the sarcastically derogatory sense of someone who considers themselves more knowledgeable or capable than they are.ġ2. Guru (from the Hindi word for “teacher” or “priest,” from the Sanskrit term guru-s): Originally denoted a spiritual mentor, but the meaning was later extended to a secular sense and then generally to an expert.ġ1. Dean, sometimes used to denote an expert in or master of a specific field as well as in its academic sense, derives from doyen.ġ0. Doyen (from the Middle French word meaning “leader of ten,” stemming from the Latin term decanus, and ultimately from the Greek term dekanos, both with the same meaning): Carries a connotation similar to that of connoisseur or maven, of a person with knowledge about or skill in a rarified topic or area. The term, which comes to English from French, has an Italian cognate, cognoscente, which, when borrowed into English, has the same sense or that of “one in the know.” (The plural is cognoscenti.)Ĩ-9. Connoisseur (from the Latin word cognoscere, “to know”): Usually employed in gustatory or artistic contexts, identifying someone with a refined taste in wine, for example, or a specific school of painting. As you may have guessed, the Latin term from which this word derives is also the source of author.Ħ-7. Authority (from the Latin word auctoritatem, “advice, opinion”): Connotes the go-to source for, well, authoritative information or advice, or the governing agency or institution for a body of knowledge. The French form, artiste, is used only facetiously or by or in reference to the pretentious.ĥ. Artist (ultimately from the Latin word ars): Originally referred solely to a practitioner of art, but now often applied to someone who demonstrates skill with an artistic flourish in any pursuit. Adept (from the Latin word adeptus, “having reached, attained”): Usually has the connotation of a mystical or secret pursuit or body of knowledge this sense stems from the use of the term in Middle English to refer to an alchemist, and the term is widely used in heroic-fantasy literature featuring wizards and sorcerers and in writing about mysticism, though it is appropriate for general usage.ģ-4. The term is still employed in sports, as in gaining a point on a serve in tennis or hitting a hole in one in golf, as well as in the scholastic sense of performing well in a course or on a test.Ģ. The slang designation stems from the most valuable card in a deck and far predates powered flight it was used to denote excellence, and eventually “top of the deck” athletes were so designated. Ace (ultimately derived from the Latin word as, “one,” “unit”): Originally, a combat pilot with at least five (later, ten) confirmed kills, or enemy planes shot down, and by extension a highly skilled person.
Just as the many synonyms for beginner should be picked over with care to capture the correct connotation, the numerous alternatives available for referring to an expert have sometimes unique or specific senses appropriate for some contexts and unsuitable for others.
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