philologist

noun3

1. •
   A person who engages in philology (historical linguistics), especially as a profession; a collector of words and their etymologies.
2. •
   A person devoted to general learning and literature.

   • Like Johnson, in Herculean might, Bid some philologist arise,— Some Milton, with seraphic flight, Or Newton, pupil of the skies. — 1827
3. •
   A person devoted to classical scholarship.