idiot savant

One entry found for idiot savant.

Main Entry: idiot sa·vant
Pronunciation: 'E-"dyO-sä-'väⁿ, or same as IDIOT and SAVANT for respective sing and pl forms
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural idiots savants /-"dyO-sä-'väⁿ(z) /; or idiot savants /-'väⁿ(z)/
Etymology: French, literally, learned idiot
1 : a person affected with a mental disability (as autism or mental retardation) who exhibits exceptional skill or brilliance in some limited field (as mathematics or music) -- called also savant
2 : a person who is highly knowledgeable about one subject but knows little about anything else