custodian
Americannoun
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custodians
plural
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a person who has custody; keeper; guardian.
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a person entrusted with guarding or maintaining a property; janitor.
noun
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a person who has custody, as of a prisoner, ward, etc
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a guardian or keeper, as of an art collection, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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:
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.
Vocabulary lists containing custodian
Frindle
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Unit 1: Ecological Systems
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Awkward
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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:
Instead, the beneficiaries typically work directly with the IRA custodian, which transfers their respective shares into inherited IRAs or otherwise distributes the assets according to the applicable rules.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
A custodian said they would try and then responded soon after that there was “no match.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Since completing its takeover of the club in October 2010, Fenway Sports Group, then known as New England Sports Ventures, has established itself as a steady and reliable custodian.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
“It is not the job or duty of the custodian to figure out what the asset is worth.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
“I don’t think so. My custodian called me. The parking lot is full of kids with candles. They told him it’s a memorial service for Cap Anderson!”
From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman
The July 2024 final regulations confirmed this applies to all of your IRAs on an aggregated basis, even when they sit at different custodians.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
"The fishermen are the custodians of these places," Seidu said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
The deals, reached to avert a strike in April, promised double-digit raises to teachers, aides, custodians and other workers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
The River Test is the gold standard of chalk streams and it's crucial that we, as custodians of it, do everything we can to protect it for future generations.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
Only Mr. Sager, one of our custodians, realized that right now the primary question was “What? What did he squirt?”
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
Definitions 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.
