usagist

English

Etymology

From usage +‎ -ist.

Noun

usagist (plural usagists)

1. (linguistics, rare) One who defines a language by usage rather than theory.
   • 1995 June 11, William Safire, “ON LANGUAGE; 'To' vs. 'With'”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     The most Talmudic usagists say compare to seeks to show similarity between unlike things: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" or "Can the human brain be compared to a computer?"

   • 2006 November 3, William Safire, “Language: Nifty gifties: Books full of words - Opinion - International Herald Tribune”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     To hell with the Bard, replied the 19-year-old common usagist; gild the lily is what people say, as I was being frog-marched out of the city room.

Synonyms

• descriptivist