n. 1 a learned person, esp. in language, literature, etc.; an academic. 2 the holder of a scholarship. 3 a a person with specified academic ability (is a poor scholar). b a person who learns (am a scholar of life). 4 archaic colloq. a person able to read and write. 5 archaic a schoolboy or schoolgirl. scholar's mate see MATE(2). scholarly adv. scholarliness n.
[ ME f. OE scol(i)ere & OF escol(i)er f. LL scholaris f. L schola SCHOOL(1) ]