†1. A copy of the works of John Duns Scotus; a textbook of scholastic theology or philosophy embodying his teaching; a comment or gloss typical of this teaching. Obsolete.

2. A follower of John Duns Scotus; a Scotist or (more generally) any scholastic theologian or philosopher; (by extension) an exponent of excessively pedantic, hair-splitting reasoning. Cf. earlier Duns man n. historical in later use.

3. A person who is slow at learning or of low intelligence; a stupid, dim-witted person; an idiot. (Now the usual sense.)Between the late 18th and mid 20th centuries frequently used of a schoolchild who is singled out for ridicule or disgrace as a punishment for making too many mistakes in his or her work or for minor misbehaviour (see also Compounds 2).

4. Originally: a person whose knowledge is acquired only from books and who therefore lacks a broad, humane understanding of the world and any originality or freshness of insight; a dull book-learned pedant. From the 18th cent. (later often more fully literary dunce): a writer, critic, publisher, etc., producing dull, unoriginal work; one who lacks true literary creativity or appreciation.In the modern use associated chiefly with Alexander Pope's satirical poem The Dunciad (see quot. 1728, and compare Dunciad n. 1).