erudite

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The Word of the Day for August 12 is:

erudite   \AIR-uh-dyte\   adjective
      : possessing or displaying extensive knowledge acquired chiefly from 
books : learned

Example sentence: 
      The university hosted an informative lecture given by an erudite scholar 
of Cold War history.

Did you know?
      "Erudite" derives via Middle English "erudite" from Latin "eruditus," the 
past participle of the verb "erudire," meaning "to instruct." A closer look at 
that verb shows that it is formed by combining the prefix "e-," meaning 
"missing" or "absent," with the adjective "rudis," which means "rude" or 
"ignorant" and is also the source of our word "rude." We typically use the word 
"rude" to mean "discourteous" or "uncouth" but it can also mean "lacking 
refinement" or "uncivilized"; someone who is erudite, therefore, has been 
transformed from a roughened or uninformed state to a polished and 
knowledgeable one through a devotion to learning. 





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