custodian

American  

[kuh-stoh-dee-uhn] / kʌˈstoʊ di ən /

noun

• custodians
  plural

1. 

   a person who has custody; keeper; guardian.

2. a person entrusted with guarding or maintaining a property; janitor.

---

custodian British  

/ kʌsˈtəʊdɪən /

noun

1. a person who has custody, as of a prisoner, ward, etc

2. a guardian or keeper, as of an art collection, etc

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• custodianship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• custodians
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of custodian

1775–85; < Latin custōdi ( a ) watchman ( see custody) + -an

---

Compare meaning

How does custodian compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• custodian vs. janitor

---

Explanation

You may know the custodian at your school — the person who's in charge of taking care of the building, in keeping it clean, making sure the heat works, and the roof doesn't leak. The word custodian comes from Latin custos, meaning "guardian," and anyone who looks after something can be a custodian. You might be the custodian of your club's records — you take care of the files and keep them up to date. Or you could be the custodian of the crown jewels — you hold the keys to the treasury and it's your job to make sure the jewels don't get lost or stolen.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

custodian custodians

Fidelity Investments, which like Schwab is a major custodian of wealth assets, aided the rise of the long-short tax-aware strategy by allowing people with smaller account balances to jump in.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Your options if your custodian refuses a direct transfer are keeping the funds with that custodian or withdrawing them and paying the tax.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Then, in the process of transferring her accounts from the previous custodian to Kirwan’s firm, the client was contacted by a scammer and told that her accounts were compromised.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

For 40 years, the archaeologist Khaled al-Asaad had been the principal custodian of Palmyra.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

He was an acknowledged custodian of Xhosa history, and it was partially for that reason that he was valued as an adviser.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

These custodians of the land see the bill as a violation of the right to self-determination for which they fought for centuries.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

The GunaiKurnai, an Australian Aboriginal nation, are recognized as the traditional custodians of Gippsland and the southern Victorian Alps.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

The custodians who manage these plans, like Fidelity and Vanguard, will make it easy at age 50 or 60 to sign up for a guaranteed-income plan when the time comes.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

For soil scientist Andy Gregory, who helps oversee Rothamsted's long-term experiments, being one of the current custodians of Park Grass is "an incredible privilege".

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

“Your uncle Charley’s father and grandfather were custodians at Riverview. ‘Someone employed to clean and maintain a building’ is only the second definition of that word.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• curator
• keeper
• overseer
• protector
• steward
• superintendent
• supervisor
• warden
• watchdog

---