Word for person who loves to share knowledge

Question

What is a word for a person who loves to share knowledge? So far I have educator in mind. Is there any other word?

Guru, Professor, Master - all of them should fit well depending on the regional and circumstantial context. — karthiks, Sep 10 '11 at 15:10
loves to share knowledge, whether anyone wants to hear it or not ... a blowhard — GEdgar, Sep 24 '11 at 20:13
In the Christian world an evangelist. I've never heard a complaint about using the word outside of Christianity by Christians. IE a health food evangelist. — Wayne Smith, Sep 24 '11 at 21:52
A "teacher" may share knowlegde, but he doesn't necessarily love to do it. There are surely teachers who hate their jobs. Likewise we do not normally refer to anyone who shares knowledge as a teacher. Like if my neighbor excitedly tells me all about yesterday's football game, he is sharing knowledge and he loves to do it, but we wouldn't call him a teacher. — Jay, Jan 10 '12 at 22:32
@Wayne: "evangelist" is used fairly often these days in non-theological contexts. I've seen the term "Java evangelist" used regularly for people who promote the Java programming language. Sun referred to some of their Java advocates as "Java evangelists" as if it was their job title. (Maybe it was.) — Jay, Jan 10 '12 at 22:36

score 19 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 14 '10 at 06:03

19

How about "maven"? According to the Wikipedia article,

A maven (also mavin) is a trusted expert in a particular field, who seeks to pass knowledge on to others.

[Admittedly, many dictionaries define the word merely as something like "an expert", but the meaning is in flux, and the "person who loves to share knowledge" meaning is getting more common.]

answered Sep 14 '10 at 06:03

ShreevatsaR

27,572

Thanks @ShreevatsaR. Yah it is more closer to knowledge sharing. – Thedal Sep 14 '10 at 08:59
2

Again, I must point out this was just a tentative answer; "maven" in most contexts just means "expert" or "self-styled expert" etc. — look up the dictionaries. – ShreevatsaR Sep 14 '10 at 10:11
2

Although I don't have a good answer for the question, I don't think "maven" is understood by many English speakers. – Sep 14 '10 at 10:48
@Shinto is right. And so is @ShreevatsaR. To my ears, maven has a mildly negative connotation which derives from the "self-styled" part. (Anyone can be a self-style expert.) – Benjol Sep 16 '10 at 05:24
That describes me! :D – Jan 04 '13 at 18:49

score 7 · Answer 2 · 2011-07-11T08:45:09.880

7

A pedagogue likes to teach others things.

edited Jul 11 '11 at 08:45

answered Feb 27 '11 at 16:40

2

Pedagogue has a rather negative connotation, though. – Chris Dec 09 '12 at 16:53

score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 27 '11 at 03:16

6

A few more words for people who share knowledge: teacher, "teaching assistant", tutor, mentor, coach, guru, contributor, author, polyglot, blogger, Wikipedian, ...

answered Feb 27 '11 at 03:16

David Cary

525
5
9

1

... pedant ... (evil grin) – Marthaª Feb 27 '11 at 18:16

score 6 · Answer 4 · edited Feb 28 '19 at 20:04

6

How about "pundit"? A pundit is

a person who knows a lot about a particular subject and who often talks about it in public

From: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/pundit

edited Feb 28 '19 at 20:04

Glorfindel

14,499

answered Nov 28 '12 at 13:11

JK2

6,553

I'd think pundit has a derogatory meaning. – Pacerier Mar 12 '15 at 04:12

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 15 '11 at 03:31

In addition to the excellent answers previously given with positive connotations, I offer this pejorative one:

pedant

...because loving to share your knowledge doesn't always mean others love to receive it.

That's not intended as a subtle dig at StackExchange users. I just really like the word.

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 09 '12 at 16:46

Within religion and technology people who are keen to spread ideas are know as evangelists.

"The Greek word εὐαγγέλιον originally meant a reward given to the messenger for good news".

For evangelists who are promoting knowledge of a certain type of technology or religion, spreading the 'word' is seen as it's own reward, rather than seeking any monetary reward.

rhetorician · Answer 7 · 2015-03-12T10:42:17.237

1

A fountainhead is a person who is a source of all kinds of knowledge. S/he may not love sharing that knowledge, however.

On the other hand, why would a fountainhead deliberately dam up the works by refusing to share knowledge? Besides, isn't the job of a literal fountainhead to benefit all the people who congregate around it? How could a fountainhead of knowledge not love benefitting others?

Yeah, fountainhead is an apt word to describe someone who loves sharing knowledge.

edited Mar 12 '15 at 10:42

answered Aug 07 '13 at 05:03

rhetorician

19,383

Doesn't fountainhead mean "source"? – Pacerier Mar 12 '15 at 04:14
@Pacerier: Yes. I'd say it's a metaphorical synonym. Jesus, for example, was a fountainhead of both knowledge and wisdom, and he evidently loved spilling over, as it were, into the lives of others with what he called "living water." See John 4:10 ff., and 7:37-38. Part of his modus operandi was to tell stories about people with whom his audience could identify and draw spiritual lessons from. He called these stories, "parables" (literally, "words alongside," which underscores the importance of applying his words to our lives by laying his words alongside our lives & then applying them). Don – rhetorician Mar 12 '15 at 10:50

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Mar 23 '14 at 22:58

1

A professor is someone who professes his knowledge or faith, gratuitously, sometimes. To all who would listen.

answered Mar 23 '14 at 22:58

user69781

107

Word for person who loves to share knowledge

8 Answers8

Linked