Maven

For the Scrabble-playing algorithm, see Maven (Scrabble).

A maven (also mavin or mayvin) is an expert in a particular field, usually one who is self-appointed and who seeks to pass his knowledge on to others.

The word comes from the Yiddish meyvn, with the same meaning, which in turn derives from the Hebrew mayveen, meaning to understand. It was first recorded in English around 1952, and popularised in the 1960s by a series of commercials for Vita Herring, featuring "The Beloved Herring Maven." Since the 1980s it has become more common since William Safire adopted it to describe himself ("the language maven"). Malcolm Gladwell used it in his book The Tipping Point (Little Brown, 2000) to describe those who are the first to pick up new trends. The work of Safire and Gladwell has made the word particularly widely used in their particular contexts. The word is mainly confined to American English.

Some have identified the maven not just as a Jewish word, but as a Jewish concept. One site on Jewish language states, "A maven is an expert, and it's something that every Jew thinks he is on every subject that exists." [1] This highlights the fact that a maven being self-appointed, following his advice is an act of faith.