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What Is the Meaning of the Word

Sophomore?

Chris Carson

Chris Carson has been writing professionally since 1988. Specializing in topics such as cats,jewelry, history and English, her articles have appeared in "Best Friends Magazine" and on various

websites. Carson received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Arizona State University.

By Chris Carson, eHow Contributor

Even though most people know what the word "sophomore" means in the general sense, the path to

its common usage has been a long and winding one. The word has only been used to designateclass status in the United States in the last 150 or so years. The word actually has its roots in

ancient Greece, and two schools of thought continue to duke it out concerning the etymology of

the word.

Other People Are Reading

Popular Meaningo The literal meaning of the word "sophomore" is "wise fool" (from the Greek,

"sophos" and "moros"). In the United States, this word is used to define a student in

his 2nd year of high school or college. Since a student who has already beenthrough his 1st year of high school or college is wiser than those who follow, the

first part of the designation makes a kind of sense.

Reason for Use

o Perhaps the reason the word was chosen to define students in their 2nd

year of college or high school was because even though these students mayhave had just enough education to think themselves wise, they still had not had

enough education to truly be wise. Sophomore - 30 to 59 creditso Sponsored Links

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7/31/2019 What is the Meaning of the Word Sophomore

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Alternate Meaning

o Some etymologists argue that being a smart moron has nothing to do with it. In

fact, they point out that in ancient Greece, a "sophist" was defined as "one who hadattained wisdom." Also, in ancient Greece, paid teachers were known as "sophists."

They often engaged in debates using arguments that became known as "sophisms,"so the use of those arguments was known as "sophistry."

History

o In the 16th and 17th centuries, Cambridge University assigned students to engage

in debate and argument as part of their studies. However, this activity wasconsidered too advanced for freshman students. Therefore, it was only assigned to

the 3 higher class levels, which began to be called, "sophumers," "juniorsophumers" and "senior sophumers." Here, the word "sophumer" meant "one who

uses sophisms."

Across the Atlantic

o While Cambridge no longer uses these classifications to define its students, Harvard

University picked up their use, likely because John Harvard, its founder, hadgraduated from Cambridge and brought those terms with him. Other American

schools followed suit. In 1726, the spelling of the word "sophumer" became

"sophomore." Eventually, in the mid-1800s, the class levels became "freshman,"

"sophomore," "junior" and "senior."

High School Designation

o High school students in the United States did not receive these designations until

around the turn of the 20th century. Outside the United States, other countries referto high school students in their second year as "second years." In British English,

the word "sophomore" is completely unknown.

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