sophist

• n. 诡辩家；学者，哲学家

来自希腊语 sophos,有知识的，有智慧的，来自 PIE*sap,尝试，品尝，鉴别，词源同 sapient, 有智慧的。-ist,人。字面意思即有智慧的人，智者，哲人，后词义多用于贬义化指诡辩家， 诡辩者。

sophist (n.)

"one who makes use of fallacious arguments," mid-15c., earlier sophister (late 14c.), from Latin sophista, sophistes, from Greek sophistes "a master of one's craft; a wise or prudent man, one clever in matters of daily life," from sophizesthai "to become wise or learned," from sophos "skilled in a handicraft, cunning in one's craft; clever in matters of everyday life, shrewd; skilled in the sciences, learned; clever; too clever," of unknown origin. Greek sophistes came to mean "one who gives intellectual instruction for pay," and at Athens, contrasted with "philosopher," it became a term of contempt.

Sophists taught before the development of logic and grammar, when skill in reasoning and in disputation could not be accurately distinguished, and thus they came to attach great value to quibbles, which soon brought them into contempt. [Century Dictionary]