Classicist

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈklæsɪsɪst/

Definitions

1. A specialist who studies the languages, literature, history, and art of ancient Greece and Rome
2. An expert in classical antiquity who analyses and interprets ancient texts and cultural artifacts
3. A researcher focused on ancient Mediterranean civilizations, particularly through examining classical languages and heritage

Etymology: Classicist is a plain, transparent formation: the adjective "classic" with the suffix "-ist" added to name a person who practises or specialises in a field. The "-ist" ending itself travelled a long way to get there. It comes from Greek forms ending in "-istēs", which named agents such as those who practised a craft or took a side, and it reached English through Latin "-ista" and Old French "-iste", arriving in Middle English as "-ist". The adjective underneath has a more striking history. "Classic" comes from Latin "classicus", which originally meant belonging to the highest Roman census class, the "classis" of citizens wealthy enough to serve in the legions. Only later did it come to mean "of the first rank" in writing and art, and eventually the "classics" of ancient Greece and Rome. So a word about the highest tax bracket became, through the sense of excellence, the name for the study of antiquity.

Synonyms: traditionalist, purist, conservative, historian, academic

Antonyms: modernist, innovator, revolutionary, avant-garde, progressive