Etymologically
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pedant

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈpɛdənt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French pédant or Italian pedante (“teacher, schoolmaster”),[2][3][4][5] a word of uncertain origin.[4][5] Etymonline takes it as an alteration of Late Latin paedagōgāns, present participle of paedagōgāre “to teach”;[5] the American Heritage Dictionary suggests a Vulgar Latin *paedēns, ultimately from Greek paideúein “to educate”, from paîs “child”.[2] Random House also compares pedagogue.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A schoolmaster, teacher or tutor (1588).[7][4][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Within a few years the word took on its modern sense: someone who overrates book learning or shows it off unduly (1596).[7][4][5] The old sense “schoolmaster” is now obsolete.[3][6] Pedantic dates from about 1600 and pedantry from 1612.[4]

Timeline

  • 1588 – a schoolmaster or tutor (obsolete).[7][4][3]
  • 1596 – one who makes an undue show of learning.[7][4]
  • about 1600 – pedantic.[4]
  • 1612 – pedantry.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person who makes an excessive display of learning.
  2. A person who lays undue stress on rules and minor details.
  3. (obsolete) A schoolmaster.

Word family

  • pedantic
  • pedantry

References

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