​PEDANT, one who exaggerates the value of detailed erudition for its own sake; also a person who delights in a display of the exact niceties of learning, in an excessive obedience to theory without regard to practical uses. The word came into English in the latter part of the 16th century in the sense of schoolmaster, the original meaning of Ital. pedante, from which it is derived. The word is usually taken to be an adaptation of Gr. παιδεύειν, ​to teach. Others connect with an O. Ital. pedare, to tramp about (Lat. pes, foot), of an usher tramping about with his pupils.