attendant

[uh-ten-duhnt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR attendant ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who attends another, as to perform a service.

Chiefly British. an usher or clerk.

a corollary or concomitant thing or quality.

a person who is present, as at a meeting.

adjective

being present or in attendance; accompanying.

consequent; concomitant; associated; related: winter holidays and attendant parties; war and its attendant evils; poverty and its attendant hardships.

Origin of attendant

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French, present participle of attendre to notice, await. See attend, -ant

Related formsat·tend·ant·ly, adverbsu·per·at·tend·ant, noun, adjectiveun·at·tend·ant, adjective

Synonyms for attendant

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR attendant ON THESAURUS.COM

1. escort, companion, comrade; follower, retainer, servant. 3. accompaniment, consequence.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for attendants

helper, servant, assistant, aide, custodian, nurse, auxiliary, lackey, chaperon, understudy, domestic, follower, companion, orderly, usher, escort, guide, secretary, waitperson

Examples from the Web for attendants

Contemporary Examples of attendants

After fifteen minutes of CPR he is pronounced dead and taken to a mortuary, where attendants see him breathing.
Real Life Lazarus: When Patients Rise From the Dead
Sandeep Jauhar
August 21, 2014
Less than 10 minutes later, the attendants wheeled out the gurney, which now bore a black body bag.
Inside Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Apartment
Michael Daly
February 2, 2014
Two attendants climbed out, took a gurney from the back of the van, and disappeared inside the building.
Inside Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Apartment
Michael Daly
February 2, 2014
An odd party of five orphans and their attendants are assembled for a birthday celebration on an East Texas ranch.
This Week’s Hot Reads: Oct. 7, 2012
Nicholas Mancusi
October 7, 2012
For this final show, attendants are asked to bring a bowl and a spoon.
Be Meat and Drink: A Conceptual Performance at Allegra LaViola Gallery
Lizzie Crocker
April 15, 2011

Historical Examples of attendants

Her father rode by her side, and a numerous train of attendants followed.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
There were attendants, running Turks, and guards before to clear the way.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
The attendants are exceedingly civil, and charges regulated by a tariff.
The Roof of France
Matilda Betham-Edwards
Enter Rumi-naui, torn and ragged, and covered with blood, with two attendants.
Apu Ollantay
Anonymous
The whole was closed by a long line of attendants and domestics.
Tales And Novels, Volume 5 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth

British Dictionary definitions for attendants

attendant

noun

a person who accompanies or waits upon another

a person employed to assist, guide, or provide a service for others, esp for the general publica lavatory attendant

a person who is present

a logical consequence or natural accompanimenthatred is often an attendant of jealousy

adjective

being in attendance

associated; accompanying; relatedattendant problems

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for attendants

attendant

1550s, "one who waits upon," from the adjective, or from Middle French atendant, noun use of present participle of atendre (see attend).

attendant

adj.

late 14c., "solicitous, attentive," see attendant (n.). Sense of "serving under, accompanying in a dependant position" is from c.1400.