n. [ F. pédant, It. pedante, fr. Gr. paidey`ein to instruct, from pai^s boy. See Pedagogue. ] 1. A schoolmaster; a pedagogue. [ Obs. ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

A pedant that keeps a school i'th' church. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who puts on an air of learning; one who makes a vain display of learning; a pretender to superior knowledge. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

A scholar, yet surely no pedant, was he. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Of or pertaining to a pedant; characteristic of, or resembling, a pedant; ostentatious of learning; as, a pedantic writer; a pedantic description; a pedantical affectation. “Figures pedantical.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a pedantic manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Pedantically. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office, disposition, or act of a pedant; pedantry. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ Cf. F. pédantiser. ] To play the pedant; to use pedantic expressions. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pedant + democracy. ] The sway of pedants. [ R. ] J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. pédanterie. ] The act, character, or manners of a pedant; vain ostentation of learning. “This pedantry of quotation.” Cowley. [ 1913 Webster ]

'T is a practice that savors much of pedantry. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An assembly or clique of pedants. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]