bluestocking an intellectual or literary woman. The term is recorded from the late 17th century and was originally used to describe a man wearing blue worsted (instead of formal black silk) stockings; extended to mean ‘in informal dress’. Later the term denoted a person who attended the literary assemblies held (c.1750) by three London society ladies, where some of the men favoured less formal dress. The women who attended became known as blue-stocking ladies or blue-stockingers.

blue·stock·ing / ˈbloōˌstäking/ • n. often derog. an intellectual or literary woman.