spectator
[spek-tey-ter, spek-tey-]
- a person who looks on or watches; onlooker; observer.
- a person who is present at and views a spectacle, display, or the like; member of an audience.
- Also called spectator shoe. a white shoe with a perforated wing tip and back trim, traditionally of dark brown, dark blue, or black but sometimes of a lighter color.
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Origin of spectator
1580–90; < Latin spectātor, equivalent to spectā(re), frequentative of specere to look, regard + -tor -tor
Spectator, The
- a weekly periodical (1711–12, 1714) issued by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for spectator
Contemporary Examples
Boos came from some of the families and friends in the spectator seats.
These days, authoritative feminist discourse is no longer just a spectator sport.
He breaks down the divide between himself, as performer, and the fan, as spectator.
Then one daring, possibly planted, spectator interrupted the show to profess her crush.
The Bachelor Farmville: No One Wants to Watch Chris Soules Plant His SeedBrandy Zadrozny
August 27, 2014
Through this, an active role is given to the spectator, who has inadvertently become an intrinsic part of the artwork.
Historical Examples
She said, "The Spectator is not what it used to be in my father's time."
Life and Death of Harriett FreanMay Sinclair
Instead of trying to be the hero of his own history, he seeks to be the spectator of his own tragedy.
De ProfundisOscar Wilde
I don't say who the man was, and I had nothing to do with the matter in any way except as a spectator.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
But it is this peculiar difference which renders them interesting and charming to the spectator.
Quaint CourtshipsVarious
I used to turn as red as a poppy when I happened to meet the eye of some spectator.
My Double LifeSarah Bernhardt
spectator
- a person viewing anything; onlooker; observer
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin, from spectāre to watch; see spectacle
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
Word Origin and History for spectator
n.
1580s, from Latin spectator "viewer, watcher," from past participle stem of spectare "to view, watch" (see spectacle). Spectator sport is attested from 1943.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper