Blue-stockings

Blue-stockings, a name given to learned and literary ladies, who display their acquirements in a vain and pedantic manner, to the neglect of womanly duties and graces. The name is derived from a literary coterie formed in London about the year 1750, which included both men and women. A Mr Benjamin Stillingfleet, who was in the habit of wearing blue stockings, was a distinguished member of this society; hence the name, which has been adopted both in Germany and France—Bleu being a French translation. See Dr Doran's A Lady of Last Century (Mrs Montague), 1872, which contains a chapter on blue-stockings.