Schoolman

noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative letter-case form of schoolman. alt-of
  2. 2
    A medieval writer, scholar or teacher of the subjects taught at early European universities (such as theology, metaphysics and logic); a scholastic. historical

    "1597, Francis Bacon, Essays, London: John Jaggard, 1613, “Of Studies,” So if a mans wit be wandering, let him study Mathematicks; if his wit be not apt to distinguish, or finde difference, let him study the Schoole-men; if it be not apt to beat over matters, and to find out resemblances, let him study Lawyers cases. So every defect of the mind may have speciall receit."

  3. 3
    a scholar in one of the universities of the Middle Ages; versed in scholasticism wordnet
  4. 4
    a male scholar who is skilled in academic disputation wordnet

Example

More examples

"1597, Francis Bacon, Essays, London: John Jaggard, 1613, “Of Studies,” So if a mans wit be wandering, let him study Mathematicks; if his wit be not apt to distinguish, or finde difference, let him study the Schoole-men; if it be not apt to beat over matters, and to find out resemblances, let him study Lawyers cases. So every defect of the mind may have speciall receit."

Etymology

From Middle English scoleman (attested in names), from Old English scōlman, scōlmann (“student, scholar”), equivalent to school + -man.

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