precisian

[prettygoodword]

I thought I wasn't going to do a Forgotten English Friday this week, then this one popped up:


precisian - One who is rigidly exact in the observance of rules.  —Rev. John Boag's Imperial Lexicon of the English Language, c. 1850


It turns out to be not so forgotten, not just in this sense but also in the 16th and 17th century sense of a Puritan. So sometimes specifically, the observance of religious rules. From precise, dating to c. 1570.

---L.

Comments

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

I think I've seen that in poetry -- probably Browning.

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

And Ben Jonson, I'm pretty sure.

---L.