A person who teaches themselves and learns without formal education or a teacher, relying instead on their own study and experience.
From Greek autos (self) + didakt-, from didaskein (to teach). The term has been used since the 1800s to describe self-educated intellectuals, becoming popular during the Romantic era when self-learning was idealized.
Many of history's most famous innovators—from Benjamin Franklin to Steve Jobs—were autodidacts or had significant self-taught periods; the internet has essentially made autodidactism the default mode of learning for millions, yet the word remains somewhat exotic.
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