pedagogue

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɛdəɡɒɡ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English pedagoge,^[2][3][4][5] from Old French pedagogue,^[2][3][6] from Latin paedagōgus (“slave who took children to school”),^{[2][3][6][4][5]} from Ancient Greek παιδαγωγός (paidagōgós),^{[2][3][6][4][5]} from paîs (genitive paidós) “child” and agōgós “leader”,^[2][3][6][4] from ágein “to lead”.^[2][3][6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A teacher of children; a schoolmaster (1387).^[7][3][6]

Semantic evolution

In Greece the paidagōgos was a slave who escorted boys to school and supervised them,^[2][6][4] and only later a teacher.^[3][6] In English the original sense is used only of ancient times.^[7] The word has carried a contemptuous tone, of a dogmatic, narrow-minded teacher, since at least the time of Pepys in the 1650s.^[6][7]

Timeline

• 1387 – a schoolmaster.^[7][3]
• 1483 – an attendant who led a boy to school.^[7]
• 1583 – pedagogy.^[3]
• 1619 – pedagogical.^[3]
• 1650s – a pedantic teacher.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A teacher, especially a dull, strict or pedantic one.
2. A person who teaches in a dogmatic or pedantic way.
3. (history) A slave who took children to school in ancient Greece.

Related words

• pedagogic
• pedagogical
• pedagogy
• pedant

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press