janitor
[ jan-i-ter ]
/ ˈdʒæn ɪ tər /
noun
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.
verb (used without object)
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
OTHER WORDS FROM janitor
jan·i·to·ri·al [jan-i-tawr-ee-uhl, -tohr-], /ˌdʒæn ɪˈtɔr i əl, -ˈtoʊr-/, adjectiveun·der·jan·i·tor, nounWords nearby janitor
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for janitor
British Dictionary definitions for janitor
janitor
/ (ˈdʒænɪtə) /
noun
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
Derived forms of janitor
janitorial (ˌdʒænɪˈtɔːrɪəl), adjectivejanitress, fem nWord Origin for janitor
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
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