Maven
name, noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 An expert in a given field; also, a person who is interested in and knowledgeable about a particular activity or thing; an aficionado. US
"Connectors know people—lots of people. Mavens know about things. They know, or find out first, what is going on. Connectors, says [Malcolm] Gladwell, need mavens to tell them what to buzz about."
- 2 someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field wordnet
- 1 Acronym of Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission, a space probe designed to investigate the Martian climate. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
Example
More examples"NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN) spacecraft discovered that Mars has a magnetic tail."
Etymology
From Yiddish מבֿין (meyvn, “connoisseur, expert, know-it-all”), from Hebrew מֵבִין (mevín, “one who understands, connoisseur, expert”), from הֵבִין (hevín, “to understand”). The word is said to have been popularized by its use in an advertising campaign for Vita Herring launched in the United States in 1964, which had a character called the “beloved [herring] maven” promoting the product.
More for "maven"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.