self-instructedadj.n.
/ˌsɛlfᵻnˈstrʌktᵻd/, U.S. /ˌsɛlfᵻnˈstrəktəd/ A. adj.
Taught, educated, or trained through one's own efforts; self-taught, self-educated.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > [adjective] > educated or taught > self
self-taught1587
self-instructed1695
autodidactic1828
autodidact1834
home-schooled1857
1695 Bp. J. Williams Certainty of Divine Revelation 13 'Tis certain Adam must then be self-instructed, or be instructed by God.
1787 Microcosm No. 33. 374 This self instructed philosopher.
1875 J. W. De Forest Honest John Vane xvii. 179 Our self-manufactured and self-instructed hero continued to stick in the mud where he had drifted, like any other mollusk.
1949 Mississippi Valley Hist. Rev. 36 311 As a self-instructed physician, he ministered to his family, slaves, and neighbors for many years.
2007 Independent Extra (Nexis) 29 Oct. 12 He was largely self-instructed, drawing on Rembrandt and the solemn naturalism of 17th-century Spanish painting.
B. n.
With the and plural agreement. People who are self-taught or self-educated, considered collectively. Now somewhat rare.
ΚΠ
1773 L. T. Nyberg tr. A. G. Spangenberg Life N. Lewis I. iii. 104 The self-instructed are hard to be convinced, and tenacious of their own opinions.
1833 J. S. Mill in Tait's Edinb. Mag. New Ser. 3 348 The narrowness and self-conceit which are the..failings of the self-instructed.
1915 Geogr. Jrnl. 46 313 The self-instructed are thus confirmed in one of the most common faults—waste of time in arithmetic.
1973 Amer. Poetry Rev. Sept. 44/1 Degrading folk-wisdom and the learning of the self-instructed and life-instructed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1695