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.

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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

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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

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 • Jan. 3, 2017

That humanity might in its progress be freed more and more from this unwelcome visitant was the purpose with which the National Crime Commission was organized.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

I rang the bell, for I wanted a candle; and I wanted, too, to get an account of this visitant.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

To these rooms Moore was a daily visitant, and Canning then lodged on the second floor adjoining the suite E 1, where Macaulay wrote the "History of England" and many essays.

From A Literary Pilgrimage Among the Haunts of Famous British Authors by Wolfe, Theodore F. (Theodore Frelinghuysen)