Origin of the word
The Old English word ‘scolere’ meaning ‘student’ derives from the Medieval and Late Latin word ‘scholaris’ meaning ‘of or belonging to a school’ (schola). Many languages borrowed the Medieval Latin word, hence Old High German ‘scuolari’, then German ‘schüler’ as well as Old French ‘escoler’, then French ‘écolier’. In Greek, the word ‘scholastes’ meant ‘one who lives at ease’. Today a scholar commonly refers to a very learned person, especially one who is studying at a school, university or college (1) or someone who is receiving financial support to enable them to study (3), which is known as a scholarship. In the 1530s, scholarship was used to describe the ‘status of a scholar’ and 50 years later the word had taken on the meaning of a source of funds for the support of a scholar.
Examples
There are a number of different institutions that exist to cater for learned members (1) of specific professions:
“The Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) is the learned society for those who teach law in a university or similar institution or who are otherwise engaged in legal scholarship… The President of the Society for 2016-17 is Professor Imelda Maher MRIA of University College Dublin, the Immediate Past President is Professor Andrew Burrows QC, FBA of the University of Oxford, and the Vice President is Professor Peter Alldridge of Queen Mary, University of London.” – Society of Legal Scholars. 2017: Welcome to the Society of Legal Scholars.
International students can apply for scholarships (3) to study in the UK:
“Do you want to study in the UK for free? The British Government and UK Universities provide a large number of scholarships for international students who want to study in the United Kingdom. To help you www.ukscholarshipsfoum.com lists the top 10+ UK scholarships for international students.” – World Scholarships Forum. 2017: Top 10 UK scholarships 2017-2018 for international students.
Definition
1. someone who studies a particular subject and knows a lot about it, especially a subject that is not scientific
2. if someone is not a scholar or is no scholar, they have not studied much in their lives
3. someone who has been given a scholarship to study at a particular school or university.
View the full definition in the Macmillan Dictionary.
