dunce
1530, named after John Duns Scotus (c. 1266–1308).
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1530, named after John Duns Scotus (c. 1266–1308).
Scotus was ironically a well-known Scottish thinker. His followers, however, opposed the philosophers of the Renaissance, and thus "dunce" was first used to describe someone rejecting new knowledge in 1530; later, any stupid person.
Pronunciation- IPA: /dʌns/
dunce (plural dunces)
- An unintelligent person.
- Synonyms: idiot, Thesaurus:idiot
- 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, XXX:
- [...] Dunce, / Dotard, a-dozing at the very nonce, / After a life spent training for the sight!
- French: cancre
- Russian: не́уч
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