pedant Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a person who pays more attention to formal rules and book learning than they merit
    scholastic; bookworm.

WordNet

Ped"ant noun
Etymology
F. pédant, It. pedante, fr. Gr. to instruct, from pai^s boy. See Pedagogue.
Definitions
  1. A schoolmaster; a pedagogue. Obs. Dryden.
    A pedant that keeps a school i'th' church. Shak.
  2. One who puts on an air of learning; one who makes a vain display of learning; a pretender to superior knowledge. Addison.
    A scholar, yet surely no pedant, was he. Goldsmith.

Webster 1913