different between attention vs pedantry

English

Etymology

From Middle English attencioun, borrowed from Latin attentio, attentionis, from attendere, past participle attentus (“to attend, give heed to”); see attend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??t?n.??n/

Noun

attention (countable and uncountable, plural attentions)

1. (uncountable) Mental focus.
2. (countable) An action or remark expressing concern for or interest in someone or something, especially romantic interest.
   • 1818, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, ch. 3,

     She attended her sickbed; her watchful attentions triumphed over the malignity of the distemper.

   • 1910, Stephen Leacock, "How to Avoid Getting Married," in Literary Lapses,

     For some time past I have been the recipient of very marked attentions from a young lady.

3. (uncountable, military) A state of alertness in the standing position.

4. (uncountable, computing) A technique in neural networks that mimics cognitive attention, enhancing the important parts of the input data while giving less priority to the rest.

Synonyms

• (mental focus): heed, notice; see also Thesaurus:attention

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Interjection

attention

1. (military) Used as a command to bring soldiers to the attention position.
2. A call for people to be quiet/stop doing what they are presently doing and pay heed to what they are to be told or shown.

Translations

Further reading

• attention in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• attention in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Antonetti, tentation

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin attentio, attentionem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.t??.sj??/

Noun

attention f (uncountable)

1. attention, (mental focus)
2. vigilance
3. attention (concern for or interest in)
4. consideration, thoughtfulness

Derived terms

• faire attention
• prêter attention

Related terms

• attendre
• attentif

Interjection

attention !

1. look out! watch out! careful!

Further reading

• “attention” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• tentation

English

Etymology

pedant + -ry. From Middle French pedant, pedante, from Italian pedante (“a teacher, schoolmaster, pedant”), of uncertain origin, traced by some sources to Latin paedagogans, present participle of paedagogare ( = to teach, from Greek "paedagogein" = to instruct children ). Confer French pédanterie.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?p?d.?n.t?i/

Noun

pedantry (countable and uncountable, plural pedantries)

1. An excessive attention to detail or rules.
   1. An instance of such behaviour.

      I don't want to listen to your pedantries anymore.

      • 1855, Charles Kingsley, Westward Ho! Chapter 7

        […] the southern court of the ballium had become a flower-garden, with quaint terraces, statues, knots of flowers, clipped yews and hollies, and all the pedantries of the topiarian art.

2. An overly ambitious display of learning.

Related terms

• pedant
• pedantic
• pedantocracy

Translations

Further reading

• pedantry in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• pedantry in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• pedantry at OneLook Dictionary Search