Dunce /(?)/

Dunce

n.

[From Joannes Duns Scotus, a schoolman called the Subtle Doctor, who died in 1308. Originally in the phrase “a Duns man”. See Note below.]

One backward in book learning; a child or other person dull or weak in intellect; a dullard; a dolt.
I never knew this town without dunces of figure.
— Swift.

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