Romanist

Romanist is a term with several overlapping meanings in English. In one sense, a romanist refers to a scholar who studies ancient Rome: its history, society, institutions, Latin language and literature, or broader Roman culture. In modern scholarship, more precise labels such as Latinist, Rome historian, or classical studies scholar are frequently used, but romanist can appear in older or regional texts.

Historically, the word has also been used in religious and political contexts to describe a person loyal to the Roman Catholic Church or the authority of the Pope. In Protestant-era polemics and in some continental Catholic contexts, "Romanists" designated adherents of Rome as opposed to reformers or national churches. This usage can carry pejorative or polemical connotations depending on the author and period.

In legal or philological contexts, some writers used romanist to mean a specialist in Roman law or Latin language, though this usage is uncommon today. Consequently, contemporary encyclopedias and dictionaries tend to mark it as archaic or narrow in scope.

Because the term can be ambiguous, clarification is common when it appears: the intended sense is usually indicated by context or complemented with more specific descriptors such as Latinist, Roman law scholar, Romance linguist, or Catholic theologian.