pundit
/pɐɳ.ɖɪt̪/ noun
Forms pundits pandit
- noun An expert in a particular field, especially as called upon to provide comment or opinion in the media; a commentator, a critic.
- noun A learned person in India; someone with knowledge of Sanskrit, philosophy, religion and law; a Hindu scholar.
- noun (historical) A native surveyor in British India, trained to carry out clandestine surveillance beyond British borders.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Hindi पंडित (paṇḍit) / Urdu پنڈت (panḍit), from Sanskrit पण्डित (paṇḍita, “scholar, learned man, teacher, philosopher”). Doublet of pandit.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A learned man; a teacher; esp., a Brahman versed in the Sanskrit language, and in the science, laws, and religion of the Hindoos; in Cashmere, any clerk or native official. [Written also pandit.] [India]
Etymology [Hind. pandit, Skr. pandita a learned man.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pundit”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details