precisian

English

Etymology

From precise +‎ -ian.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈsɪ.ʒən/

Noun

precisian (plural precisians)

1. A religious purist; a Puritan.
2. Someone who strictly observes the rules; a pedant or stickler.
   • 1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger Poeple's" Country, Nebraska, published 2005, page 47:

     Her speech was hardly more grating upon him, precisian though he was, than the careless, untutored lapses of a child might have been; all the senses of comparison as readily ignored them.

   • 1911, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson:

     “A sister of mine will be there,” explained the one, knowing the Duke to be a precisian.

Derived terms

• precianism

Anagrams

• periscian