pédant

Forms

pédant m (plural pédants, feminine pédante)^[1] First written ⟨pedante⟩ (1558, 1561), then ⟨pedant⟩ from 1560.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian pedante (“schoolmaster, tutor”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Italian word is recorded from the first half of the 15th century in the sense “schoolmaster”, and since 1524 it has also meant “one who shows off his learning”; its origin is uncertain.^[2][3]

Migliorini explained it as pedagogo (“tutor”) (→ pédagogue), jokingly reshaped after a homonym meaning “one who goes on foot”, from pede (“foot”), because the tutor walked everywhere with his pupils.^[2][3] The other explanation, given by Diez, already mentioned by Ménage in 1694 and taken up by Bloch and Wartburg and the FEW, makes it the present participle used as a noun of a verb Vulgar Latin *paedere, from Ancient Greek παιδεύω (paideúō, “to bring up, educate”).^[2][6][4][7] Bloch and Wartburg add that the Greek diphthong was then pronounced with /e/, the Erasmian pronunciation winning only in the 17th century.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Joachim du Bellay uses pedante in his Regrets (1558) for a schoolmaster or teacher.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word went the opposite way to pédagogue, whose senses it long shared: it came in meaning “schoolmaster, teacher”, still current in the 17th century, when Furetière gives it as a synonym of régent.^[3][4] From 1561 it was used scornfully of someone who displays his learning,^[2][3] and Henri Estienne in 1566 explains that he means pedant in its proper sense, not in the mocking one then in use.^[4]

The derogatory sense prevailed, also in the adjective (1653, Scarron),^[2][3] and the theatre spread it, notably Cyrano de Bergerac's comedy Le Pédant joué.^[3][4][5] Littré still gave as first sense, scornfully, “one who teaches children”.^[7] English took pedant “schoolmaster” in the 1580s, from the French word or straight from the Italian.^[8]

Timeline

• 1558 – Pedante “schoolmaster” appears in Du Bellay's Regrets.^[2][9]
• 1560 – The form pedant is used by Étienne Pasquier;^[2][4] pédanterie is first recorded.^[2][4]
• 1561 – Nicolas Ellain uses it scornfully of a show-off of learning.^[2][3]
• 1566 – Henri Estienne discusses its proper and mocking senses.^[2][4]
• 1580 – Montaigne uses pédantisme.^[4]
• 1580s – English borrows pedant.^[8]
• 1653 – First used as an adjective, by Scarron.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated, often pejorative) A schoolmaster or tutor.^[10][2][1]
2. A pedant, a person who makes a show of bookish, affected learning: Ce pédant cite Horace à chaque repas.^[10][11][1]

Adjective

1. Pedantic, showing a pretentious affectation of learning: une remarque pédante.^[10][11][1]

Word family

• pédanterie
• pédantisme

Related words

• pédagogue
• pédantesque

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 474a
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)