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What (who) is dunce's cap - definition
A PERSON CONSIDERED INCAPABLE OF LEARNING
Dunce cap; Dunce hat; Dunce's hat; Dunce's cap; List of literary dunces; Literary dunce; Dunce caps
dunce's cap
(N. Amer. also dunce cap)
¦ noun a paper cone formerly put on the head of a dunce at school as a mark of disgrace.
dunce
¦ noun a person who is slow at learning.
Word History
Dunce was originally a name for a follower of the 13th-century Scottish theologian John Duns Scotus, whose system of theology and philosophy, known as scholasticism, with its emphasis on tradition and dogma, was taught in universities throughout medieval Europe. The followers of Duns Scotus, known as Duns men, dunce men, or dunces, were ridiculed by 16th-century humanists and reformers as hair-splitting pedants and enemies of learning, and thus the word dunce acquired its negative connotations.
dunce
n.
Simpleton, fool, dolt, ignoramus, witling, wiseacre, blockhead, block, numskull, dullard, thickhead, thick-skull, dunderhead, dunderpate, clodpoll, clodpate, beetle-head, bull-head, dull-head, addle-head, logger-head, chuckle-head, jolt-head, lack-brain, shallow-brain, moon-calf, lackwit, halfwit, oaf, changeling, booby, noodle, spooney, tony, nincompoop (colloq.), ninny, ninnyhammer, nonny, gaby, flat, sawney, driveller, noddy, natural, innocent, lout, stick, ass, jackass, donkey, owl, goose, coot, loon, calf, non-compos, stupid fellow, silly fellow.
Wikipedia
Dunce
Dunce is a mild insult in English meaning "a person who is slow at learning or stupid". The etymology given by Richard Stanyhurst is that the word is derived from the name of the Scottish Scholastic theologian and philosopher John Duns Scotus.
