Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X, list of scientific terms with Scottish connections).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
DUNCE. The word Dunce is derived from John Duns Scotus, supposed to have been born in Duns in Berwickshire about 1265 (†1308), a strongly conservative scholastic theologian and philosopher, and opponent of the Thomists.
