monomath

English

Etymology

From mono- (“one, single”) + Ancient Greek μάθη (máthē, “learning”), from μανθάνω (manthánō, “I learn”). Compare polymath.

Noun

monomath (plural monomaths)

1. A person with an extensive knowledge of a single subject or field, but little knowledge of others.

   Coordinate terms: automath, opsimath, polymath

   • 1960, National Review, volume 8, page 52:

     It is not a refuge for self-indulgent monomaths to channelize their aggressions within a community of colleagues and students.

   • 2006 November 13, Michael Bywater, “Master of all trades”, in New Statesman:

     We don't like polymaths any more. Perhaps it's because even being a monomath is too difficult now; even specialists specialise only in a small subset of their specialty, and learning is an either/or business.

   • 2009, Edward Carr, "The Last Days of the Polymath", Intelligent Life, Autumn 2009:

     Posner first made his name as a monomath. “I had a very big intellectual commitment for many years to anti-trust law. I wrote a lot about that.” Eventually, though, the polymath rose to the surface and he put anti-trust behind him.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:monomath.

Synonyms

• specialist

Derived terms

• monomathic