academican

Academican is an infrequently attested or nonstandard term that would describe a person affiliated with an academy or learned society. In modern English, the customary term is academican? Actually the standard word is academician; “academican” is generally treated as a variant spelling or misspelling and is rarely used outside obscure or historical contexts.

Etymology and form: The word would be formed from the base academy plus the agentive suffix -an, mirroring the pattern of related terms such as academian and academician. The commonly accepted spelling is academician; academican has little to no broad attestation in contemporary dictionaries and is not considered a primary form in standard usage.

Usage notes: Because academican is not widely recognized, writers are advised to use academician when referring to a member of an academy. The term academic describes related matters of scholarship or schooling, while academy refers to the institution itself. If encountered, academican should be treated as a nonstandard variant and used cautiously, with attention to audience and style.

See also: academian, academic, academy, academia.