janitor
[jan-i-ter]
- a person employed in an apartment house, office building, school, etc., to clean the public areas, remove garbage, and do minor repairs; caretaker.
- Archaic. a doorkeeper or porter.
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- to be employed as a janitor.
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Origin of janitor
1575–85; < Latin jānitor doorkeeper, equivalent to jāni- (combining form of jānus doorway, covered passage) + -tor -tor
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for janitor
Contemporary Examples
Everybody from Bill Gates to his janitor wants the economy to grow.
He admits to us that most of the time he is more of a janitor than a brewmaster.
As a janitor working in a cleaning service, he claimed to have insider information.
His father ran a janitorial business and Tucker would help out by working as a janitor as the local Burger King.
Husband has his M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering(Graduated with honors), $30,000 in school debt and works as a janitor.
Historical Examples
When accidentally struck by the janitor's broom, he gives off a cloud of dust.
The Devil's DictionaryAmbrose Bierce
The janitor was still there on guard, but the body of the dead monkey had been removed.
The Film of FearArnold Fredericks
Yes, I gave the janitor the gold piece for finding your pet cane.
The Gorgeous GirlNalbro Bartley
It doesn't do any good to scold the janitor about our cold rooms.
The New Pun BookThomas A. Brown and Thomas Joseph Carey
They called the janitor and expostulated volubly, but all to no effect.
A Woman for MayorHelen M. Winslow
janitor
- Scot, US and Canadian the caretaker of a building, esp a school
- mainly US and Canadian a person employed to clean and maintain a building, esp the public areas in a block of flats or office building; porter
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin: doorkeeper, from jānua door, entrance, from jānus covered way (compare Janus 1); related to Latin īre to go
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for janitor
n.
1580s, "an usher in a school," later "doorkeeper" (1620s), from Latin ianitor "doorkeeper, porter," from ianua "door, entrance, gate," from ianus "arched passageway, arcade" (see Janus) + agent suffix -tor. Meaning "caretaker of a building" first recorded 1708.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper