pedant

A person who makes an excessive or tedious show of their knowledge, especially regarding rules of vocabulary and grammar.

A person who is overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning.

A teacher or schoolmaster.

I have in my youth oftentimes beene vexed to see a Pedant [tr. pedante] brought in, in most of Italian comedies, for a vice or sport-maker, and the nicke-name of Magister to be of no better signification amongst us.

Pedantic.

To be or act as a pedant.

[…] as any occasion of going behond^([sic – meaning beyond]) the sea with sombody, or pedanting in some Gentlemans house, &c., for clergy-employment I will accept of none.

Tediously he pedanted, hedging around concerning the Perfect State, eventually coming out into the open with his own private Perfect State plan.