Renaissance man

noun

"renaissance-man" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Renaissance man” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A man who lived during the Renaissance period.

Corpus desk

Index EN-renaissance-man · Renaissance man · English

Renaissance man · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 15 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "R" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for Renaissance man
PropertyValue
HeadwordRenaissance man
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Renaissance man” in English

Renaissance manranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Renaissance man is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for Renaissance man, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: After the Renaissance, as such a concept of man was developed in this period. The correct English form is Renaissance man, spelled R-E-N-A-I-S-S-A-N-C-E- -M-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A man who lived during the Renaissance period.
  2. 2
    A man with extraordinarily broad and comprehensive knowledge.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Renaissance man appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Returning from the collections in Paris and Milan, a fashion-editor friend told me, “It's all about”—always the three most powerful words in retail—“Renaissance men.” The one-dimensional C.E.O. is over, he said. “Now it's all about men of multitalents.”
  2. Any fellow who defines himself as a Renaissance man is telling you, in shorthand, "I am full of a quiet yet all-encompassing knowledge and no matter what you know, I will always know better than you and will chuckle with a quiet condescension whenever you challenge me and I might even smoke a pipe.[…]”

Etymology

After the Renaissance, as such a concept of man was developed in this period.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Renaissance man"?
"Renaissance man" is spelled R-E-N-A-I-S-S-A-N-C-E- -M-A-N.
What does "Renaissance man" mean?
As a noun, "Renaissance man" means: A man who lived during the Renaissance period.
What is the origin of the word "Renaissance man"?
After the Renaissance, as such a concept of man was developed in this period. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list