What does "scholiast" mean?

A scholar who writes commentary on the works of an author, especially one of the ancient commentators on classical authors.

What is a synonym for "scholiast"?

Common synonyms include: allegorist, annotator, book reviewer, captious critic, carper, caviler.

Pronounced //ˈskəʊ.lɪ.æst//.

//ˈskəʊ.lɪ.æst// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A scholar who writes commentary on the works of an author, especially one of the ancient commentators on classical authors.
"[N]o pedantic quotations from Talmudists and scholiasts […] ever marred the effect of his grave and temperate discourses."
2
a scholar who writes explanatory notes on an author (especially an ancient commentator on a classical author) wordnet

"[N]o pedantic quotations from Talmudists and scholiasts […] ever marred the effect of his grave and temperate discourses."

From Late Latin scholiasta, from Byzantine Greek σχολιαστής (skholiastḗs), from σχολιάζειν (skholiázein), from Ancient Greek σχόλιον (skhólion).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.