Adept (noun)

By Deane Barker • •

Definition: someone who is very skilled at something

Why I Looked It Up

So, this is a weird one, because I absolutely knew the usage and definition of “adept” as a verb. But in I Got Schooled I found this:

[…] there is a belief among certain academics that a subject is less efficiently learned from an adept than from someone who is studying it or has just finished studying it.

This is “adept” as a noun.

This brought me back to my teenage years playing Dungeons and Dragons. There was a character class called a “Cleric,” and the first two levels were:

An “acolyte” is a religious assistant.

Given the alliteration, I guess I always thought “Adept” had some religious connotation. I always remember those two character levels and thought they were somehow related: than an “adept” was a…pastor, or something?

Nope. No religious connection at all.

(This reminds me of how I thought Brain Trust was pejorative because of a comment my dad used to make.)

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