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bluestocking

 - 3 dictionary results

blue⋅stock⋅ing

  [bloo-stok-ing]
–noun
1. a woman with considerable scholarly, literary, or intellectual ability or interest.
2. a member of a mid-18th-century London literary circle: Lady Montagu was a celebrated bluestocking.
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Origin:
1675–85; so called from the informal attire, esp. blue woolen instead of black silk stockings, worn by some women of the group (def. 2)

Related forms:
blue⋅stock⋅ing⋅ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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blue·stock·ing   (blōō'stŏk'ĭng)   
n.  A woman with strong scholarly or literary interests.

[After the Blue Stocking Society, a nickname for a predominantly female literary club of 18th-century London.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

bluestocking 
1790, derisive word for a woman considered too learned, traces to a London literary salon founded c.1750 by Elizabeth Montagu on the Parisian model, featuring intellectual discussion instead of card games, and in place of ostentatious evening attire, simple dress, including Benjamin Stillingfleet's blue-gray tradesman's hose in place of gentleman's black silk, hence the term, first applied in derision to the whole set by Admiral Boscawen. None of the ladies wore blue stockings. Borrowed by the neighbors in loan-translations, cf. Fr. bas-bleu, Du. blauwkous, Ger. Blaustrumpf.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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