What is a word for a person who loves to share knowledge? So far I have educator in mind. Is there any other word?
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6How about "Teacher"?– GauravSep 14, 2010 at 5:48
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Guru, Professor, Master - all of them should fit well depending on the regional and circumstantial context.– karthiksSep 10, 2011 at 15:10
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loves to share knowledge, whether anyone wants to hear it or not ... a blowhard– GEdgarSep 24, 2011 at 20:13
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1In the Christian world an evangelist. I've never heard a complaint about using the word outside of Christianity by Christians. IE a health food evangelist.– WayneSep 24, 2011 at 21:52
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1@Wayne: "evangelist" is used fairly often these days in non-theological contexts. I've seen the term "Java evangelist" used regularly for people who promote the Java programming language. Sun referred to some of their Java advocates as "Java evangelists" as if it was their job title. (Maybe it was.)– JayJan 10, 2012 at 22:36
8 Answers
How about "maven"? According to the Wikipedia article,
A maven (also mavin) is a trusted expert in a particular field, who seeks to pass knowledge on to others.
[Admittedly, many dictionaries define the word merely as something like "an expert", but the meaning is in flux, and the "person who loves to share knowledge" meaning is getting more common.]
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2Again, I must point out this was just a tentative answer; "maven" in most contexts just means "expert" or "self-styled expert" etc. — look up the dictionaries. Sep 14, 2010 at 10:11
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2Although I don't have a good answer for the question, I don't think "maven" is understood by many English speakers.– deleteSep 14, 2010 at 10:48
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@Shinto is right. And so is @ShreevatsaR. To my ears, maven has a mildly negative connotation which derives from the "self-styled" part. (Anyone can be a self-style expert.)– BenjolSep 16, 2010 at 5:24
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That describes me! :D– user19341Jan 4, 2013 at 18:49
A few more words for people who share knowledge: teacher, "teaching assistant", tutor, mentor, coach, guru, contributor, author, polyglot, blogger, Wikipedian, ...
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1
How about "pundit"? A pundit is
a person who knows a lot about a particular subject and who often talks about it in public
From: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/pundit
In addition to the excellent answers previously given with positive connotations, I offer this pejorative one:
pedant
...because loving to share your knowledge doesn't always mean others love to receive it.
That's not intended as a subtle dig at StackExchange users. I just really like the word.
Within religion and technology people who are keen to spread ideas are know as evangelists.
"The Greek word εὐαγγέλιον originally meant a reward given to the messenger for good news".
For evangelists who are promoting knowledge of a certain type of technology or religion, spreading the 'word' is seen as it's own reward, rather than seeking any monetary reward.
A professor is someone who professes his knowledge or faith, gratuitously, sometimes. To all who would listen.
A fountainhead is a person who is a source of all kinds of knowledge. S/he may not love sharing that knowledge, however.
On the other hand, why would a fountainhead deliberately dam up the works by refusing to share knowledge? Besides, isn't the job of a literal fountainhead to benefit all the people who congregate around it? How could a fountainhead of knowledge not love benefitting others?
Yeah, fountainhead is an apt word to describe someone who loves sharing knowledge.
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@Pacerier: Yes. I'd say it's a metaphorical synonym. Jesus, for example, was a fountainhead of both knowledge and wisdom, and he evidently loved spilling over, as it were, into the lives of others with what he called "living water." See John 4:10 ff., and 7:37-38. Part of his modus operandi was to tell stories about people with whom his audience could identify and draw spiritual lessons from. He called these stories, "parables" (literally, "words alongside," which underscores the importance of applying his words to our lives by laying his words alongside our lives & then applying them). Don Mar 12, 2015 at 10:50