definition autodidact
If you're an autodidact you've done most of your learning on your own, outside of school. Having learned Greek and Latin, as well as landscape painting and auto repair, without any formal training makes you quite the autodidact. Auto- means self and didact comes from the Greek word for teach, so an autodidact is a person who's self-taught. Being the autodidact that you are, instead of calling the plumber you bought some manuals and began to learn the trade yourself.