participant
Americannoun
-
participants
plural
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of participant
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin participant-, stem of participāns “sharing,” present participle of participāre “to share”; see participate
Explanation
A participant is a person who participates, or takes part in something. Vote on Election Day and you've just taken part in or become a participant in United States democracy. Participants play a role in the unfolding of events. A contestant is a participant on a game show. A football player is a participant in the sport. Someone talking is a participant in a conversation. You can sometimes be a participant without taking an active role — if you watch a crime taking place and do nothing to stop it, you might be called a passive participant.
Vocabulary lists containing participant
Vocabulary of the Summer Olympics
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Workshop 6, Part 2
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"Journeys," Vocabulary from Lesson 13
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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:
Every participant was receiving both RAS and SGLT2 inhibitors.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026
You are a participant in wealth creation, in the cash flows of businesses you own a piece of.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
Well, they came here legally,” said Sister Sally Duffy, a Sister of Charity and active participant in the network.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
While he was eliminated on the first night, he was a beloved participant for his charming, down-to-earth personality as a grocery store owner from Chicago, earning him the nickname “Grocery Store Joe.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Michael O’Laughlen, a twenty-eight-year-old childhood friend of Booth’s, another former Confederate soldier and participant in the kidnapping plot, was also arrested on the seventeenth.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
In Australia, almost two-thirds of participants fitted that criteria.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Still, it’s an expensive setup that essentially requires participants to pay twice for primary care, both via health insurance premiums and through the DPC membership fee.
From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2026
Most of the participants were between 14 and 20 years old.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
Researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Umeå University have now tracked participants for up to 14 years to examine how screening may affect the risk of dying from the disease.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
Hindsight permits us to listen to the debate of 1790 with knowledge that none of the participants possessed.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
