ˈskälə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English scoler, from Old English scolere & Old French escoler, from Medieval Latin scholaris, from Late Latin, adjective, of a school, from Latin schola school + -aris -ar — more at school
1.
a. : one who attends a school or studies under a teacher : pupil , student — used especially in combination
Sunday school scholar
b. : one under the training of a particular master
a scholar of the learned doctor
2.
a. : one who by long systematic study (as in a university) has gained a high degree of mastery in one or more of the academic disciplines ; especially : one who has engaged in advanced study and acquired the minutiae of knowledge in some special field along with accuracy and skill in investigation and powers of critical analysis in interpretation of such knowledge
a noted Shakespeare scholar
was a scholar . He knew the right books, knew them to the core and how to use them — H.S.Canby
b. : a learned person ; especially : one who has the attitudes (as curiosity, perseverance, initiative, originality, integrity) considered essential for learning
using the word scholar … to include all those … endeavoring to be original thinkers in any field of learning — J.B.Conant
the self-dedication of scholars to concerns unrelated to individual profit — Lynn White
c. dialect : a person knowing how to read and write
3. : a holder of a scholarship