idiot savant

[id-ee-uht sa-vahnt, suh-vant, sav-uhnt; Fr. ee-dyoh sa-vahn]

id·i·ot sa·vant

[id-ee-uht sa-vahnt, suh-vant, sav-uhnt; Fr. ee-dyoh sa-vahn]
noun, plural id·i·ot sa·vants, French id·i·ots sa·vants [ee-dyoh sa-vahn] . Psychiatry.
a mentally defective person with an exceptional skill or talent in a special field, as a highly developed ability to play music or to solve complex mathematical problems mentally at great speed.

Origin:
1925–30; < French: literally, learned idiot
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Idiot savant has a plethora of syllables.
So is sesquipedalianism. Does it mean:
given to using long words.
a white, crystalline, water-insoluble solid, C14H9Cl5, usually derived from chloral by reaction with chlorobenzene in the presence of fuming sulfuric acid: used as an insecticide and as a scabicide and pediculicide: agricultural use prohibited in the U.S.
Collins
World English Dictionary
idiot savant (ˈiːdjəʊ sæˈvɑ̃, ˈɪdɪət ˈsævənt)
 
n , pl idiots savants, idiot savants
a person with learning difficulties who performs brilliantly at some specialized intellectual task, such as giving the day of the week for any calendar date past or present
 
[C19: from French: knowledgeable idiot]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

idiot savant (sā-vänt')
n. pl. idiot savants
A mentally retarded person who exhibits genius in a highly specialized area, such as mathematics.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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