dunce Meaning, Definition & Usage

Dunce noun

Etymology

From Joannes Duns Scotus, a schoolman called the Subtle Doctor, who died in 1308. Originally in the phrase "a Duns man". See Note below.

Definitions

1. 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.

   ✍ 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.