Etymology Explorer › Middle French

Where does “pedant” come from?

pedant (Middle French) comes from Italian pedante, from Ancient Greek παιδεία, from Ancient Greek παιδεύω, from Ancient Greek παῖς, from Proto-Hellenic pā́wits, from Proto-Indo-European péh₂wids, from Proto-Indo-European peh₂w- — few, little; smallness.

pedant (Middle French): teacher; tutor; educator; pedant

Definitions

  1. teacher; tutor; educator; pedant

Ancestry of “pedant”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Italianpedantepedantic; schoolmaster; teacher
2Ancient Greekπαιδείαupbringing; training, education; youth, childhood
3Ancient GreekπαιδεύωI raise, bring up a child; I train, teach,...
4Ancient Greekπαῖςchild, son, daughter; young person, child, boy,...
5Proto-Hellenicpā́witschild
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpéh₂wids—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpeh₂w-few, little; smallness

Words derived from “pedant”

  • pedantic
  • pedantry
  • pedant
  • pedantically
  • pedantical
  • unpedantic
  • pedantism
  • pedanticism
  • pedantocracy
  • overpedantic
  • pedanticly
  • outpedant
  • pedantise
  • pedantly
  • pedantocrat
  • pedantize
Every word from Proto-Indo-European peh₂w- →