philologists

Noun

philologist (plural philologists)

1. A person who engages in philology (historical linguistics), especially as a profession; a collector of words and their etymologies.
   • Foucault's incisive scrutiny and consistent analysis of antique culture has opened the eyes of many a philosopher, philologist or anthropologist who considered himself an expert on the very texts and issues that Foucault addresses. In the years following the publication of Foucault's works an...2013, Vigdis Songe-Møller, Philosophy Without Women: The Birth of Sexism in Western Thought, page 130, pub. A&C Black, isbn: 978-1-84714-350-1
2. A person devoted to general learning and literature.
   • Like Johnson, in Herculean might,
     Bid some philologist arise,—
     Some Milton, with seraphic flight,
     Or Newton, pupil of the skies.1827, Lydia Sigourney, Poems, On visiting the University of Virginia, at Charlottesville, page 125
3. A person devoted to classical scholarship.
   • For Zhu Xi's explanation of the phrase “ge wu,” see his commentary on Great Learning... For Wang's interpretation, see his “Questions on the Great Learning”... Unfortunately, the key word “ge” is highly ambiguous, so both interpretations ... are completely defensible... Nivison... described the...2015, Van Norden, Bryan, "Wang Yangming", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2014/entries/wang-yangming