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dunce - 4 dictionary results
dunce
[duhns] 
–noun
| a dull-witted, stupid, or ignorant person; dolt. |
Related forms:
dun⋅ci⋅cal, duncish, adjective
dunc⋅ish⋅ly, adverb
Synonyms:
dullard, numbskull, blockhead, ignoramus, simpleton, nincompoop, ninny.
dullard, numbskull, blockhead, ignoramus, simpleton, nincompoop, ninny.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To dunce
| dunce (dŭns) n. A stupid person; a dolt. [After John Duns Scotus, whose writings and philosophy were ridiculed in the 16th century.] |
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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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Dunce
Dunce\, n. [From Joannes Duns Scotus, a schoolman called the Subtle Doctor, who died in 1308. Originally in the phrase "a Duns man". See Note below.] One backward in book learning; a child or other person dull or weak in intellect; a dullard; a dolt. I never knew this town without dunces of figure. --Swift. Note: The schoolmen were often called, after their great leader Duns Scotus, Dunsmen or Duncemen. In the revival of learning they were violently opposed to classical studies; hence, the name of Dunce was applied with scorn and contempt to an opposer of learning, or to one slow at learning, a dullard.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : dunce
Spanish:
tonto,
German:
der Dummkopf,
Japanese:
ばか
dunce
1577, from earlier Duns disciple "follower of John Duns Scotus" (c. 1265-1308), Scot. scholar of philosophy and theology supposed to have been born at Duns in Berwickshire. By 16c., humanist reaction against medieval theology singled him out as the type of the hairsplitting scholastic. It became a term of reproach to more conservative philosophical opponents c.1527, later extended to any dull-witted student.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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