— Gaonic /gay on"ik/ , adj.
/gah"ohn/ ; Seph. Heb. /gah awn"/ ; Ashk. Heb. /gah"ohn, goyn/ , n. , pl. Geonim Seph. Heb. /ge aw neem"/ ; Ashk. Heb. /gay oh"nim/ , Eng. Gaons .
1. a title of honor for the directors of the Jewish academies at Sura and Pumbedita in Babylonia, used from the end of the 6th century A.D. to about the beginning of the 11th century.
2. an eminent Jewish scholar noted for wisdom and knowledge of the Talmud: the Gaon of Vilna.
[ 1770-80; ]