philomath

noun /ˈfɪləmæθ/

1. A lover of learning; a scholar.

   archaic

   For this (in my humble opinion, not very important purpose, and fitter to employ the talent of a philomath than a Newton) he and Leibnitz, much about the same, struck out a fluxional method, which they both took for a demonstration.

2. An astrologer or predictor.

   "The success of an almanac depended upon the appeal of the "philomath"-the resident astrologer who did the writing and predicting."

Where it comes from

First indubitably attested ante 1643 (perhaps antedated to 1611); from the Ancient Greek φιλομαθής (philomathḗs, “fond of learning”), from φίλος (phílos, “loving”) + μάθη (máthē, “learning”), from μανθάνω (manthánō, “learn”); compare opsimath, philomathematic, and polymath.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry philomath (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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