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.
RELATED WORDS
custodian, attendant, superintendent, sitter, gatekeeper, caretaker, concierge, super, porter, sweeper, doorkeeper
Nearby words
- janina,
- janine,
- janissaries,
- janissary,
- janissary music,
- janitorial,
- janitress,
- janizary,
- janjaweed,
- jankin
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. 2019
Examples from the Web 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
Word 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
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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janitor
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper