grammarian

American  

[gruh-mair-ee-uhn] / grəˈmɛər i ən /

noun

1. a specialist or expert in grammar.

2. a person who claims to establish or is reputed to have established standards of usage in a language.

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grammarian British  

/ ɡrəˈmɛərɪən /

noun

1. a person whose occupation is the study of grammar

2. the author of a grammar

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Etymology

Origin of grammarian

1350–1400; Middle English gramarien < Old French gramairien. See grammar, -ian

Explanation

A grammarian is someone who studies, writes about, teaches, and/or loves grammar. Some English teachers are grammarians — they’re the ones who don’t mind spending an afternoon discussing the Oxford comma. In case you’re underwhelmed, know that the word grammarian comes from the Old French word gramairien for "wise man, person who knows Latin, or magician." English-speaking grammarians don’t necessarily know Latin these days, but it wouldn’t hurt. Grammarians often write books on the parts of speech, diagramming sentences, or anything else about grammar and syntax. Wise? Yes. Magicians? Rarely.

Example Sentences

To be completely candid, I found Simon’s intellectual posturing, rarefied vocabulary and grammarian cavils trying.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2019

When Eric Peterson gave his report as the official grammarian of this meeting, he spent most of his time pointing out words he liked: ephemeral, ruminate, affinity.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 2, 2019

And John McWhorter tells Kurt why he hates the book that every writer and nitpicky grammarian loves: The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White.

From Slate • Feb. 8, 2018

After all, besides underwriting its contributors’ research and travel, the New Yorker employed copy editors, fact-checkers and an in-house grammarian.

From Washington Post • Sep. 6, 2017

But it’s not true that if one kind of grammarian is right then the other kind of grammarian is wrong.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker