Dictionary entry

Pedant

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Ped″ant (?), n. [F. pédant, It. pedante, fr. Gr. παιδεύειν to instruct, from παι̑σ boy. See Pedagogue.] 1. A schoolmaster; a pedagogue. 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.