visitant

American  

[viz-i-tuhnt] / ˈvɪz ɪ tənt /

noun

1. a temporary resident; visitor; guest.

2. a visitor to a place of religious or sight-seeing interest; pilgrim.

3. a being believed to come from the spirit world.

   a ghostly visitant.

4. something, as a mood, feeling, emotion, etc., that overtakes a person from time to time.

   Melancholy is an occasional visitant to all.

5. a migratory bird that has come to a place temporarily.

---

adjective

1. visiting; paying a visit.

visitant British  

/ ˈvɪzɪtənt /

noun

1. a supernatural being; ghost; apparition

2. a visitor or guest, usually from far away

3. a pilgrim or tourist

4. Also called: visitor.  a migratory bird that is present in a particular region only at certain times

   a summer visitant

---

adjective

1. archaic  paying a visit; visiting

Related Words

See visitor.

Etymology

Origin of visitant

First recorded in 1590–1600, visitant is from the Latin word vīsitant- (stem of vīsitāns ). See visit, -ant

Example Sentences

One difference was that Lucian’s visitants usually took off their clothes.

From New York Times

At Clear Lake, the western grebe is a breeding bird and also a winter visitant, attracted by the abundant fish of the lake.

From The New Yorker

It’s another rare visitant — it last left home at Amherst College in 1986 — and it’s almost a shock to see how small it is: pocket-size, like a holy card or a talisman.

From New York Times

Sometimes, however, there were indications that the troubling visitants might themselves be aliens.

From The Guardian

The first of these visitants was Miss Ashley, who in her peacock-blue gown looked much as she had looked when Sylvia last saw her.

From Project Gutenberg