pedant

See also: pédant and Pedant

English

Alternative forms

• pædant (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle French pedant, pedante, from Italian pedante (“a teacher, schoolmaster, pedant”), associated with unrelated Italian pedagogo (“teacher, pedagogue”). Compare French pédant.

Pronunciation

• enPR: pĕdʹənt, IPA^(key): /ˈpɛdənt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

pedant (plural pedants)

1. A person who makes an excessive or tedious show of their knowledge, especially regarding rules of vocabulary and grammar.
2. A person who is overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning.
3. (archaic) A teacher or schoolmaster.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 24, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     I have in my youth oftentimes beene vexed to see a Pedant [tr. pedante] brought in, in most of Italian comedies, for a vice or sport-maker, and the nicke-name of Magister to be of no better signification amongst us.

Derived terms

• pedantic
• pedantly
• pedantry

 

Translations

person overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning

• Arabic: مُتَحَذْلِق m (mutaḥaḏliq)
• Bulgarian: педант (bg) m (pedant)
• Catalan: pedant m or f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 夫子 (zh) (fūzǐ), 老學究／老学究 (zh) (lǎoxuéjiū), 學究／学究 (zh) (xuéjiū)

• Czech: pedant (cs) m
• Danish: pedant c
• Dutch: wijsneus (nl) m or f, weetal (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: pedanto (eo)
• Estonian: pedant (et), juuksekarvalõhestaja, tähenärija
• Finnish: saivartelija (fi), viisastelija (fi), pedantti (fi)
• French: pédant (fr) m, pédante (fr) f
• German: Pedant (de) m, Pedantin (de) f
• Greek: σχολαστικός (el) m (scholastikós)
• Icelandic: uppfullur af lærdómshroka m, uppfull af lærdómshroka f, smámunasamur maður m, smámunasöm kona f
• Ido: pedanto (io)
• Italian: pedante (it) m or f
• Japanese: 衒学者 (げんがくしゃ, gengakusha)
• Korean: 공론가 (gongnon'ga)
• Latvian: pedants
• Lithuanian: pedantas m
• Macedonian: педа́нт m (pedánt)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pedant (no) m

  Nynorsk: pedant (nn) m

• Polish: pedant (pl) m, pedantka (pl) f
• Portuguese: pedante (pt) m or f
• Russian: педа́нт (ru) m (pedánt), педа́нтка (ru) f (pedántka)
• Spanish: pedante (es) m or f
• Swedish: pedant (sv) c

person who emphasizes their knowledge through strict adherence to rules of vocabulary and grammar

• Arabic: مُتَشَدِّق m (mutašaddiq)
• Finnish: viisastelija (fi), saivartelija (fi)
• French: pédant (fr) m, pédante (fr) f
• Greek: δοκησίσοφος (el) (dokisísofos)
• Italian: cervellone (it) m, cervellona f
• Portuguese: pedante (pt) m or f

Adjective

pedant (not comparable)

1. Pedantic.

See also

• Pedant in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
• stickler

Further reading

• “pedant”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “pedant”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “pedant”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• panted, pentad

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from German Pedant, from French pédant, from Italian pedante.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpɛdant]

Noun

pedant m anim

1. pedant (person who is overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning)

Declension

Declension of pedant (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	pedant	pedanti
genitive	pedanta	pedantů
dative	pedantovi, pedantu	pedantům
accusative	pedanta	pedanty
vocative	pedante	pedanti
locative	pedantovi, pedantu	pedantech
instrumental	pedantem	pedanty

Further reading

• “pedant”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “pedant”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “pedant”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)
• “pedant” in Akademický slovník současné češtiny, 2012–2024, slovnikcestiny.cz

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

pedant (comparative pedanter, superlative pedantst)

1. pedantic

Declension

Declension of pedant
uninflected	pedant
inflected	pedante
comparative	pedanter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		pedant	pedanter	het pedantst het pedantste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	pedante	pedantere	pedantste
	n. sing.	pedant	pedanter	pedantste
	plural	pedante	pedantere	pedantste
definite		pedante	pedantere	pedantste
partitive		pedants	pedanters	—

Latin

Verb

pedant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of pedō

Middle French

Alternative forms

• pedante

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian pedante.

Noun

pedant m (plural pedants)

1. teacher; tutor; educator
2. pedant

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French pédant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛ.dant/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛdant
• Syllabification: pe‧dant

Noun

pedant m pers (female equivalent pedantka, related adjective pedancki)

1. clean freak, neat freak, out-and-outer, pedant, prig, stickler (person obsessed with tidiness or cleanliness)

   Synonyms: porządniś, skrupulant, skrupulat

   Antonym: bałaganiarz

Declension

Declension of pedant

	singular	plural
nominative	pedant	pedanci/pedanty (deprecative)
genitive	pedanta	pedantów
dative	pedantowi	pedantom
accusative	pedanta	pedantów
instrumental	pedantem	pedantami
locative	pedancie	pedantach
vocative	pedancie	pedanci

Related terms

adjectives

• pedanteryjny
• pedantyczny

 

adverbs

• pedancko
• pedanteryjnie
• pedantycznie

 

nouns

• pedanteria
• pedanteryjność
• pedantyczność
• pedantyzm

 

Further reading

• pedant in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• pedant in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French Pedant.

Adjective

pedant m or n (feminine singular pedantă, masculine plural pedanți, feminine and neuter plural pedante)

1. pedantic

Declension

Declension of pedant

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	pedant		pedantă	pedanți	pedante
	definite	pedantul		pedanta	pedanții	pedantele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	pedant		pedante	pedanți	pedante
	definite	pedantului		pedantei	pedanților	pedantelor

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Pedant, from French pédant, from Italian pedante, from Ancient Greek παιδεία (paideía).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pědant/; /pedânt/
• Hyphenation: pe‧dant

Noun

pèdant, pedȁnt m (Cyrillic spelling пѐдант, педа̏нт)

1. pedant (person who is overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning)

Declension

Declension of pedant

	singular	plural
nominative	pèdant	pedanti
genitive	pedanta	pèdanātā
dative	pedantu	pedantima
accusative	pedanta	pedante
vocative	pedante	pedanti
locative	pedantu	pedantima
instrumental	pedantom	pedantima

References

• “pedant”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2024

Swedish

Noun

pedant c

1. a pedant (someone pedantic)

   Synonym: petimeter

Declension

Declension of pedant

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	pedant	pedants
	definite	pedanten	pedantens
plural	indefinite	pedanter	pedanters
	definite	pedanterna	pedanternas

References

• pedant in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• pedant in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• pedant in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)