scholiast means A scholar who writes commentary on the works of an author, especially one of the ancient commentators on classical authors. It carries an Arena rating of 1596, earned across 47 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, scholiast ranks #4,087 of 17,105 for Most Storied Words, #4,480 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #4,859 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #5,068 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
scholiast is pronounced /ˈskəʊ.lɪ.æst/.
Why “scholiast” is a great word
SCHOLIAST — [Noun] A scholar who writes explanatory notes or commentary, especially on classical texts. From Late Latin scholiasta, from Byzantine Greek σχολιαστής (scholiastḗs, "commentator"), from σχολιάζειν (scholiázein, "to write scholia"), from Ancient Greek σχόλιον (schólion, "comment, explanatory note"). First attested in English in the 1580s. Unlike a critic, who evaluates and judges a work's merits, or an editor, who prepares a text for publication by revision, a scholiast provides explanatory annotations and historical context, adding without altering. It is the tiny, precise handwriting filling the margins of a vellum manuscript, the footnote that untangles an obscure Athenian law, and the patient gloss elucidating a forgotten custom—the quiet, cumulative work of building a footbridge across time.
Etymology
From Late Latin scholiasta, from Byzantine Greek σχολιαστής (skholiastḗs), from σχολιάζειν (skholiázein), from Ancient Greek σχόλιον (skhólion).
noun
- A scholar who writes commentary on the works of an author, especially one of the ancient commentators on classical authors.e.g.“[N]o pedantic quotations from Talmudists and scholiasts […] ever marred the effect of his grave and temperate discourses.” — 1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XIV, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume III, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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