teacher
Americannoun
noun
-
a person whose occupation is teaching others, esp children
-
a personified concept that teaches
nature is a good teacher
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of teacher
First recorded in 1250–1300, teacher is from the Middle English word techer. See teach, -er 1
Compare meaning
How does teacher compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
If the guy down the street shows you how to play the guitar and helps you develop a masterful plucking style, then he's your guitar teacher. A teacher is anyone who teaches things. Schools hire people to be teachers, but you don't have to work in a school to be a teacher. You can be a teacher to your children. If you're really good at making pizza, you can be a teacher to an aspiring pizza chef. If you're really passionate about methods of education, then you can become a teacher who teaches teachers how to teach better. Whoa.
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.
Now that Esquivel is graduating, she will enroll at East Los Angeles College to complete the requirements necessary to become a lead teacher.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
For those who want to earn their associate’s or bachelor’s degrees and become a lead teacher, she encourages them to visit schools and makes the college application a part of their classwork.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
A teacher hoisted a huge sunflower made from dozens of balloons -- the plant's name in Mandarin is a homophone for a Chinese idiom about success.
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
From around the age of 12, Dutch pupils are streamed into one of three secondary tracks, based on teacher recommendations and primary-school test results:
From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026
One day during the first week of school, her teacher found me on the playground.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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.
