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tutor

[too-ter, tyoo-]
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noun
  1. a person employed to instruct another in some branch or branches of learning, especially a private instructor.
  2. a teacher of academic rank lower than instructor in some American universities and colleges.
  3. a teacher without institutional connection who assists students in preparing for examinations.
  4. (especially at Oxford and Cambridge) a university officer, usually a fellow, responsible for teaching and supervising a number of undergraduates.
  5. the guardian of a boy or girl below the age of puberty or majority.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to act as a tutor to; teach or instruct, especially privately.
  2. to have the guardianship, instruction, or care of.
  3. to instruct underhandedly; coach: to tutor a witness before he testifies.
  4. Archaic.
    1. to train, school, or discipline.
    2. to admonish or reprove.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to act as a tutor or private instructor.
  2. to study privately with a tutor.
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Origin of tutor

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin tūtor protector, equivalent to tū- (variant stem of tuērī to guard; see tutelage) + -tor -tor
Related formstu·tor·less, adjectivetu·tor·ship, nounmis·tu·tor, verbsub·tu·tor, nounsub·tu·tor·ship, nounun·der·tu·tor, nounwell-tu·tored, adjective

Synonym study

6. See teach.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

lecturer, educator, instructor, teacher, mentor, educate, instruct, coach, preceptor, guardian, governor, grind, teach, guide, prof, discipline, school, edify, direct, update

Examples from the Web for tutor

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I don't apprehend that a young nobleman ever broke his heart after his tutor.

  • He graduated at Yale college, and was subsequently a tutor in that institution.

  • He came to Weimar with a tutor to learn German when I happened to be living there.

    Roden's Corner

    Henry Seton Merriman

  • She was the daughter of his Cambridge tutor—penniless, pretty, and musical.

    The Coryston Family

    Mrs. Humphry Ward

  • I had no tutor to direct me or take any of the responsibility off me.

    Wilfrid Cumbermede

    George MacDonald

British Dictionary definitions for tutor

tutor

noun
  1. a teacher, usually instructing individual pupils and often engaged privately
  2. (at universities, colleges, etc) a member of staff responsible for the teaching and supervision of a certain number of students
  3. Scots law the guardian of a pupilSee pupil 1 (def. 2)
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verb
  1. to act as a tutor to (someone); instruct
  2. (tr) to act as guardian to; have care of
  3. (intr) mainly US to study under a tutor
  4. (tr) rare to admonish, discipline, or reprimand
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Derived Formstutorage or tutorship, noun

Word Origin

C14: from Latin: a watcher, from tuērī to watch over
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 tutor

n.

late 14c., "guardian, custodian," from Old French tutour "guardian, private teacher," from Latin tutorem (nominative tutor) "guardian, watcher," from tutus, variant past participle of tueri "watch over," of unknown origin. Specific sense of "senior boy appointed to help a junior in his studies" is recorded from 1680s.

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v.

1590s, from tutor (n.). Related: Tutored; tutoring.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper