ivory tower

Meanings

Noun

• A sheltered, overly-academic existence or perspective, implying a disconnection or lack of awareness of reality or practical considerations.

Adjective

• Separated from reality and practical matters; overly academic.

Origin

• , based on a biblical phrase, coined by Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve to compare the poet Alfred de Vigny (more isolated) with Victor Hugo (more socially engaged).{{cite-book
• |lang=fr
• |author=Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
• |authorlink=Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
• |year=1837
• |year_published=1869
• |publisher=Charpentier et Cie
• |page=374
• |pageurl=http://books.google.ca/books?id=7JMGAAAAQAAJ&ots=kA1hd18A7v&hl=en&pg=PA374&f=false#v=onepage&q&f=false|
• |title=Poésies complètes de Sainte-Beuve
• |chapter=Pensés d’Août
• |trans-chapter=Thoughts of August
• |passage=Et Vigny, plus secret, / Comme en sa tour d’ivoire, avant midi rentrait.
• First attested in English in a translation of Laughter by French philosopher Henri Bergson (1911).{{cite-book
• |author=Henri Bergson
• |authorlink=Henri Bergson
• |translator=Frederick Rothwell, Cloudesley Shovell Henry Brereton
• |year=1911
• |title=Laughter
• |chapter=III
• |page=135
• |pageurl=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.24472/page/n145/mode/1up
• The term was popularized in The Ivory Tower (1917) by Henry James, though used in different sense (millionaires, not professors).