Age-old name for an older-age habit

Abstract

Opsimathy: ‘rare, 1656; Gr. ὀψέμανθάνω. Learning acquired late’ (Shorter Oxford, 1972, p. 1455). The word itself might be rare and old – and figuratively Greek to a lot of people – but the art of opsimathy is a fashionable state of personal fulfilment these days, such is the global push for mature-age entry to university courses. At campuses worldwide, 70 is the new 45.