connoisseur
NounSynonyms:
cognoscente
WordNet 3.0
Noun (1)
- an expert able to appreciate a field; especially in the fine artsSynonyms: cognoscente
Webster's Dictionary (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]
The Devil's Dictionary
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.