teacher
Americannoun
-
teachers
plural
noun
-
a person whose occupation is teaching others, esp children
-
a personified concept that teaches
nature is a good teacher
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of teacher
First recorded in 1250–1300, teacher is from the Middle English word techer. See teach, -er 1
Compare meaning
How does teacher compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
If the guy down the street shows you how to play the guitar and helps you develop a masterful plucking style, then he's your guitar teacher. A teacher is anyone who teaches things. Schools hire people to be teachers, but you don't have to work in a school to be a teacher. You can be a teacher to your children. If you're really good at making pizza, you can be a teacher to an aspiring pizza chef. If you're really passionate about methods of education, then you can become a teacher who teaches teachers how to teach better. Whoa.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Ms. Rowland had navigated a number of successful career pivots—from elementary-school teacher to news anchor to editor of children’s textbooks—which Ms. FitzSimons characterizes as “a series of wild swings that somehow worked out.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
Zacharia, meanwhile, received the equivalent of a “see me after class” from the teacher in lieu of a grade.
From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2026
Katherine “Kitty” Good Semisch, a retired Bucks County teacher and a key figure in the documentary, says the series is perfectly timed for the midterms because of its efforts to humanize everyone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Half of France's secondary schools were missing at least one teacher as the school year started in September, according to a survey of more than 1,000 schools conducted by the Snes-FSU teacher union.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
It was surely too late to find another teacher who’d teach in a place like that.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Protesters have been demanding additional investment in their schools, criticising the lack of teachers and staff, overcrowded classrooms and run-down buildings.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
The government has made apparent attempts at concessions, with Education Minister Édouard Geffray promising 3,000 extra supply teachers, during a television interview on 8 October.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
France's points-based assignment system gives more experienced teachers greater choice over where they work, leaving "less experienced" educators more likely to be posted to "the most challenging roles", he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
But why should students and teachers have to rely on good fortune and courageous passersby for security?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The school’s teachers had migrated from all over the region to educate them.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
