Connoisseur

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Connoisseur \Con`nois*seur"\ (?; 277), n. [F. connaisseur,
     formerly connoisseur, fr. conna[^i]tre to know, fr. L.
     cognoscere to become acquainted with; co- + noscere,
     gnoscere, to learn to know. See {Know}, and cf. {Cognizor}.]
     One well versed in any subject; a skillful or knowing person;
     a critical judge of any art, particulary of one of the fine


     arts.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           The connoisseur is "one who knows," as opposed to the
           dilettant, who only "thinks he knows."   --Fairholt.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  connoisseur
       n : an expert able to appreciate a field; especially in the fine
           arts [syn: {cognoscenti}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  96 Moby Thesaurus words for "connoisseur":
     Admirable Crichton, accumulator, adept, aesthete, aficionado,
     amateur, annotator, arbiter, arbiter elegantiarum,
     arbiter of taste, artisan, artist, attache, authority,
     bill collector, bon vivant, buff, captious critic, carper, caviler,
     censor, censurer, cognoscente, collection agent, collector,
     commentator, commenter, connaisseur, consultant, cordon bleu,
     crack shot, craftsman, critic, criticaster, criticizer, critickin,
     criticule, dead shot, dilettante, diplomat, diplomatist, douanier,
     dunner, editor, elder statesman, epicure, epicurean, exciseman,
     experienced hand, expert, expert consultant, fan, farmer,
     faultfinder, freak, gatherer, good judge, gourmand, gourmet,
     graduate, handy man, journeyman, judge, literary critic, magpie,
     man of letters, marksman, maven, miser, muckraker, no slouch, nut,
     pack rat, politician, pro, professional, professor, proficient,
     pundit, refined palate, reviewer, savant, scholar, scholiast,
     shark, sharp, smellfungus, social critic, specialist, statesman,
     tax collector, technical adviser, technical expert, technician,
     textual critic, virtuoso
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  CONNOISSEUR, n.  A specialist who knows everything about something and
  nothing about anything else.
      An old wine-bibber having been smashed in a railway collision,
  some wine was pouted on his lips to revive him.  "Pauillac, 1873," he
  murmured and died.