precisian

American  

[pri-sizh-uhn] / prɪˈsɪʒ ən /

noun

1. a person who adheres punctiliously to the observance of rules or forms, especially in matters of religion.

2. one of the English Puritans of the 16th and 17th centuries.

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precisian British  

/ prɪˈsɪʒən /

noun

1. a punctilious observer of rules or forms, esp in the field of religion

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Other Word Forms

• precisianism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of precisian

First recorded in 1565–75; precise + -ian

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

precisian

"I believe I am something of a precisian myself, but upon such a consideration, and in Paris, I should not hesitate an instant."

From New Arabian Nights by Robert Louis Stevenson

It may have been half an hour earlier or later on other ranches, for Lew Wee is no petty precisian.

From Somewhere in Red Gap by Harry Leon Wilson

Tom Orgreave, with the gestures of a precisian, drew a bunch of keys from his pocket, and unlocked a rosewood bookcase that stood between the two windows.

From Clayhanger by Arnold Bennett

You know not the pleasure of being conscience-keeper to a pretty precisian, who in one breath repeats her foibles, and in the next confesses her passion.

From Peveril of the Peak by Sir Walter Scott

A precisian might of course, were he so disposed, take up the ground that the report of the Committee when made ought to be monosyllabic, "Yes" or "No."

From A Short History of the Book of Common Prayer by William Reed Huntington