janitor

[ jan-i-ter ]
See synonyms for janitor on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person employed in an apartment house, office building, school, etc., to clean the public areas, remove garbage, and do minor repairs; caretaker.

  2. Archaic. a doorkeeper or porter.

verb (used without object)
  1. to be employed as a janitor.

Origin of janitor

1
First recorded in 1575–85; from 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], /ˌdʒæn ɪˈtɔr i əl/, adjective
  • un·der·jan·i·tor, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use janitor in a sentence

  • And, requesting one of the assistant janitors to do the errand, Tom proceeded to chapel.

  • There were also porters in stores and janitors whose weekly wages averaged between $15 and $18 per week.

  • The man told the janitors that his name was Folces, that he belonged to the praefect of Rome and desired speech with the Augusta.

    "Unto Caesar" | Baroness Emmuska Orczy
  • Doors swung back and it swept in, a great wave, almost overturning the janitors.

    Port O' Gold | Louis John Stellman
  • I realized that it was a bothersome moral responsibility—placing the lives of others (even if janitors) in jeopardy.

    Turns about Town | Robert Cortes Holliday

British Dictionary definitions for janitor

janitor

/ (ˈdʒænɪtə) /


noun
  1. Scot, US and Canadian the caretaker of a building, esp a school

  2. 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

Origin of janitor

1
C17: from Latin: doorkeeper, from jānua door, entrance, from jānus covered way (compare Janus 1); related to Latin īre to go

Derived forms of janitor

  • janitorial (ˌdʒænɪˈtɔːrɪəl), adjective
  • janitress, fem n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012