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What's the history of the word "Smart"? From middle English we get "smerten", meaning "to cause pain, to suffer pain"! And from old English "smeortan", meaning "be painful", and more originally, "to bite" (As in to bite into). Only since 1600 and upwards this word is used to mean wisdom, perhaps the saw pain as experience and the key to learning, as they were painfully engaging with their studies and the world around them.