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 . 1ratSebew, to teach . Others connect with an O . Ital. ped are, to tramp about (Lat. pes, foot), of an usher tramping about with his pupils .