bluestocking:
(also from French ‘bas bleu‘; plural: ‘bluestockings‘; pronunciation: ‘blue…stocking’)
a bluestocking (as a compliment in appreciation), Gail Timble, University Champion, Oxford
a woman who is highly educated;
an intellectual woman;
a woman with great interest in literature;
a woman scholar,
e.g.
They say our new Maths teacher is a sort of bluestocking.
It is quite unfortunate that bluestocking, once a compliment to an educated person, has changed to an insult as the time passed.
‘Bluestocking’, originated from the blue stockings (socks) the highly educated people wore in 18th century, and now occasionally used but in a negative connotation (i.e. in negative sense).
For an informative article on bluestocking, please click here.
