bluestocking

Etymology

From the 17th century. Originally in reference to blue stockings worn by men as opposed to more expensive white stockings. First associated with the Barebones Parliament in the 17th century, then with a series of literary salons which admitted female intellectuals in the 18th century; in particular the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society led by Elizabeth Montagu on the Parisian model. The term was not originally derogatory. None of the ladies wore blue stockings. The first recorded use of the term is in reference to Benjamin Stillingfleet. He was not rich enough to have the proper formal dress, which included black silk stockings and so he attended in everyday blue worsted stockings.

noun

1. (usually derogatory) A scholarly, literary, or cultured woman.
   But Isabel was no blue-stocking; she was full of vivacity and life, and her conversation was sprightly and agreeable, even when turning upon those serious subjects. 1846, George W.M. Reynolds, The Mysteries of London, volume 1, London: George Vickers, page 109
   And let none cast in my teeth[…]the remark of Hippolytus in Euripides: “I detest a bluestocking. May there never be a woman in my house who knows more than is fitting for a woman to know.” 1896, Maurice Walter Keatinge (tr.), The great didactic of John Amos Comenius, London: Adam and Charles Black, translation of Didactica Magna by John Amos Comenius
   Bragg was a Massachusetts-born bluestocking, a New Woman of the Progressive Era who changed not only the cultural face of Charleston but also the nation's approach to museum education. 2001, Louise Anderson Allen, A Bluestocking in Charleston: The Life and Career of Laura Bragg, Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, →OL
   The artist who created strong, passionate, brilliant heroines turns out to have disapproved of bluestockings and refused to educate his own intelligent daughters. 2003-10-05, Brooke Allan, “The Surveyor of Customs”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   But the cultural conflict between these two post-revolutionary styles — between frat guys and feminist bluestockings, Gamergaters and the diversity police, alt-right provocateurs and 'woke' dudebros, the mouthbreathers who poured hate on the all-female 'Ghostbusters' and the tastemakers who pretended it was good — is likely here to stay. 2016-08-14, Ross Douthat, “A Playboy for President”, in The New York Times
2. (historical) A member of an 18th-century Blue Stockings Society.
3. (historical) The English parliament of 1653, more commonly called the Barebones Parliament