academic definition

English academic definition

Alternative forms

• academick (obsolete)
• acad, acad. (abbreviation)
• Academic

Etymology

From both the Medieval Latin acadēmicus and the French académique, from Latin academia, from Ancient Greek ἀκαδημικός (akadēmikós), from Ἀκαδημία (Akadēmía) or Ἀκαδήμεια (Akadḗmeia), the name of the place where Plato taught; compare academy.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌækəˈdɛmɪk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛmɪk

Adjective

academic (comparative more academic, superlative most academic)

1. Belonging to the school or philosophy of Plato [from late 16th century]^[2]

   the academic sect or philosophy

2. Belonging to an academy or other higher institution of learning, or a scholarly society or organization. [from late 16th century]^[2]
   • 1761, William Warburton, A Charge to the Clergy of the Diocese of Gloucester; republished as The Works of the Right Reverend William Warburton, D. D., Lord Bishop of Gloucester, volume 9, 1811, page 372:

     But unhappily, by too short a view of things, you have been apt to mistake the completion of your academic courses for the completion of your theologic studies: and then, by a false modesty, have despaired of knowing more than you would suffer those august places of your education to teach you.

   • 1959 December, John Alves, “Resorts for Railfans - 29: Oxford”, in Trains Illustrated, page 596:

     It was left to the motor industry, half a century later, to destroy Oxford's academic calm.

3. In particular: relating to literary, classical, or artistic studies like the humanities, rather than to technical or vocational studies like engineering or welding.
   • 1991, Wisconsin State Board of Vocational, Technical and Adult Education, Accountability Report, and ... State Plan for Vocational, Technical and Adult Education in Wisconsin, page 16:

     Programs of work should provide students the opportunities to demonstrate both academic and vocational competence attainment.

4. Having little practical use or value, as by being overly detailed and unengaging, or by being theoretical and speculative with no practical importance. [from late 19th century]

   Coordinate terms: abstract, artificial

   I have always had an academic interest in hacking.

   the distinction is academic; an academic question

   • 1985, Depyrogenation, page 33:

     In theory, a fully intact reverse osmosis membrane should be capable of removing lipopolysaccharide pyrogens […] In practice, this distinction is academic, because pyrogens do not replicate, and as long as the product water is […]

   • 1990, David George Lowe, I. J. M. Jeffrey, Surgical Pathology Techniques, Mosby Incorporated:

     In practice this distinction is academic, as any small nodule on the surface of a thyroidectomy specimen should be examined histologically. If carcinoma is suspected or proven, the whole surface of the specimen may be marked […]

   • 2011 May 16, “Pakistan's AQ Khan: My Nuclear Manifesto”, in Newsweek:

     The question of how many weapons are required for credible deterrence against India is purely academic.

   • 2017 November 10, “Land Rover Discovery review – SUV's the finest car in the Landy”, in Scottish Daily Record:

     For the majority of owners, its four-wheel-drive endeavours will be of purely academic interest.

   • 2018 May 22, Decision, Matter of Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, US Government Accountability Office:

     As a general matter, we will not consider a protest where the issue presented has no practical consequences with regard to an existing federal government procurement, and thus is of purely academic interest.

5. Having a love of or aptitude for learning.

   I'm more academic than athletic — I get lower marks in phys. ed. than in anything else.

6. (art) Conforming to set rules and traditions; conventional; formalistic. [from late 19th century]^[2]
   1. Subscribing to the architectural standards of Vitruvius.

      (Can we add an example for this sense?)

7. So scholarly as to be unaware of the outside world; lacking in worldliness; inexperienced in practical matters.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

academic (plural academics)

1. (usually capitalized) A follower of Plato, a Platonist. [First attested in the mid 16th century.]^[2]
2. A senior member of an academy, college, or university; a person who attends an academy; a person engaged in scholarly pursuits; one who is academic in practice. [First attested in the late 16th century.]^[2]
   • 2013 September 7, “The multiplexed metropolis”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8852:

     Academics […] see integrated systems for collecting, processing and acting on data as offering a “second electrification” to the world’s metropolises.

3. A member of the Academy; an academician. [First attested in the mid 18th century.]^[2]
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 4, member 2, subsection ii:

     Carneades the academick, when he was to write against Zeno the stoick, purged himself with hellebor first […].

4. (archaic) A student in a college.
5. (plural only) Academic dress; academicals. [First attested in the early 19th century.]^[2]
6. (plural only) Academic studies. [First attested in the late 20th century.]^[2]

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• scientific

References

Further reading

• “academic”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “academic”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “academic”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Interlingua academic definition

Adjective

academic

1. academic

Romanian academic definition

Etymology

Borrowed from French académique, from Latin academicus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.kaˈde.mik/

Adjective

academic m or n (feminine singular academică, masculine plural academici, feminine and neuter plural academice)

1. academic

Declension