autodidact
a self-taught person
Roots
Other words with the auto root
- automatic: working by itself or without constant human control
- autonomous: self-directed; independent
- autonomy: self-governance
Other words with the didact root
- didact: a teacher or instructive person
- didactic: intended to teach; often overly instructive
- didacticism: an instructive or preachy tendency
Auto means self and didact means taught: an autodidact teaches themself.
The autodidact built a vocabulary system from library books and stubborn curiosity.
Autodidact is a clean two-root word: self + taught. It gives autonomy a learning cousin.