SCIOLIST  , one who, with only a superficial knowledge or a smattering of knowledge on any particular subject, claims or pretends to a

complete or profound learning . The Lat. sciolus, a diminutive of scius, learned, from scire, to know, is only found in post-classical times, e.g . Hieronymus, A.D . 420, Epist . 48 . 18 . It first appears in English at the beginning of the 17th century .