auditor

American  

[aw-di-ter] / ˈɔ dɪ tər /

noun

• auditors
  plural

1. a person appointed and authorized to examine accounts and accounting records, compare the charges with the vouchers, verify balance sheet and income items, and state the result.

2. a university student registered for a course without credit and without obligation to do work assigned to the class.

3. a hearer; listener.

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auditor British  

/ ˈɔːdɪtə /

noun

1. a person qualified to audit accounts

2. a person who hears or listens

3. a registered student who attends a class that is not an official part of his course of study, without actively participating it

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• auditorship
  noun
• subauditor
  noun
• superauditor
  noun
• auditorial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• auditors
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of auditor

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English auditour, from Anglo-French, from Latin audītor “hearer,” from audī(re) “to hear” + -tor -tor

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Explanation

An auditor is someone who inspects accounting records. Don’t cheat on your taxes, or an auditor might come and check your figures. An auditor is also an attentive listener. That kind is usually more fun. The word auditor is Latin for “hearer.” This word still applies to someone who listens closely, but it also refers to a kind of accountant who checks the financial records of other people, usually to make sure nothing illegal is going on. If the Internal Revenue Service demands an audit, an auditor will go over your financial records with a fine-toothed comb. This process used to be done verbally, so both kinds of auditors need good hearing.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

auditor auditors

Apple audited its suppliers so often that Blevins negotiated a volume discount with the auditor, Deloitte.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

It’s hard to think of a major outlet where the Iowa auditor has not gone on a hunting trip and scarfed down breakfast pizza with a reporter.

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026

Larsen, the Stevens County auditor, is encouraging Washington voters to deposit their ballots in drop boxes rather than relying on the mail.

From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2026

The auditor, his wife, two children and in-laws had arrived in Cyprus hours before the incident.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

My dad is an auditor for a big accounting firm.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

In an interview with auditors she maintained she lived in California, although said she sometimes worked from Alabama and Tennessee.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

After the incident, the company allowed staff members from nonprofit safety auditors, including Model Evaluation and Threat Research, or METR, to conduct research inside its offices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

They will also work with "independent auditors" to assess whether their AI systems are working as intended and ensure their platforms do not "hack or access technical systems in unintended ways."

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

One proposal to promote evaluator independence would be for regulators to assign auditors from a licensed pool instead of having the labs hire their own auditors directly.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

Milton wore them whenever he met with bank loan officers or auditors from the IRS.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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Related Words

• accountant
• actuary
• bookkeeper

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