pedant

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈpɛdənt/ UK /ˈpedənt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a person who is overly concerned with minor rules and details

Only a pedant would object to splitting an infinitive.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who is overly... nitpickerprecisianquibblerdoctrinaire formalist

Word family

Derived forms pedantry pedantic pedantical pedantically

Related forms pedagogue

Simplified etymology

Pedant entered English in the late 16th century from Italian pedante, meaning “teacher.” The Italian word may itself derive from the word represented in English by pedagogue, but that connection is uncertain.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French pedant, from Italian pedante ('teacher, schoolmaster'), of uncertain origin, possibly from the same Greek root as pedagogue (pais 'child').

pedante Italian

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# pedant

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɛdənt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpedənt/

## Meanings
1. a person who is overly concerned with minor rules and details

## Examples
- Only a pedant would object to splitting an infinitive.

## Synonyms
- nitpicker
- precisian
- quibbler
- doctrinaire
- formalist

## Derived Forms
- pedantry
- pedantic
- pedantical
- pedantically

## Related Forms
- pedagogue

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: pedante

## Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French pedant, from Italian pedante ('teacher, schoolmaster'), of uncertain origin, possibly from the same Greek root as pedagogue (pais 'child').

## AI Etymology
Pedant is borrowed from Middle French pedant, from Italian pedante ('teacher, schoolmaster'), of uncertain origin, possibly from the same Greek root as pedagogue (pais 'child'). Important recorded forms include pedante (Italian). Its earlier history remains partly uncertain, so the etymological chain is best treated cautiously. In current use it covers a person who is overly concerned with minor rules and details. The wider family includes derived forms such as pedantry, pedantic, pedantical, and pedantically and related words such as pedagogue.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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