spectator
[ spek-tey-ter, spek-tey- ]
/ ˈspɛk teɪ tər, spɛkˈteɪ- /
noun
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.
RELATED WORDS
observer, viewer, bystander, fan, onlooker, theatergoer, looker, beholder, watcher, kibitzer, eyewitness, seer, witness, playgoer, clapper, perceiver, standee, looker-on, gaper, gazer
Nearby words
- spectacled,
- spectacled cobra,
- spectacles,
- spectacular,
- spectate,
- spectator pump,
- spectator sport,
- spectator, the,
- spectatorial,
- specter
Origin of spectator
1580–90; < Latin spectātor, equivalent to spectā(re), frequentative of specere to look, regard + -tor -tor
Spectator, The
noun
a weekly periodical (1711–12, 1714) issued by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for spectator
spectator
/ (spɛkˈteɪtə) /
noun
a person viewing anything; onlooker; observer
Word Origin for spectator
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
spectator
1580s, from Latin spectator "viewer, watcher," from past participle stem of spectare "to view, watch" (see spectacle). Spectator sport is attested from 1943.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper