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.

---

precisian British  

/ prɪˈsɪʒən /

noun

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

---

Other Word Forms

• precisianism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of precisian

First recorded in 1565–75; precise + -ian

Example Sentences

He was a pathetic figure, Arthur Gideon, the intolerant precisian, fighting savagely against the tide of loose thinking that he saw surging in upon him, swamping the world and drowning facts.

From Potterism A Tragi-Farcical Tract by Macaulay, Rose, Dame

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 Bennett, Arnold

There was, moreover, perhaps some genuine dislike, and certainly a good deal of precisian condemnation, of the "Wardour Street" dialect.

From The English Novel by Saintsbury, George

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 Scott, Walter, Sir

He was no precisian, no etymologist, no purist.

From Choice Specimens of American Literature, and Literary Reader Being Selections from the Chief American Writers by Martin, Benj. N.