The Word “Scientist” or its Substitute

Abstract

THERE is a prejudice against this word. Some profess etymological scruples; they say it is an ugly hybrid with a Latin root and a Greek termination. But surely this is not a serious objection or the one which really prevents its use. For the accusation is not true. The termination-ist is French, not Greek; if “scientist” had come from the French it would have been as unexceptionable as “artist,” which is an exact parallel; it did not come from French merely because French scientists, having appropriated savant (to which we have no close analogy), had no need of it. Even if the accusation were true, those who swallow “voltmeter” and “ionisation” would scarcely strain at such a very mild inelegance.