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

“Mental terrors, sir! I wish I could believe them to be only such: I wish it more now than ever; since even you cannot explain to me the mystery of that awful visitant.”

From Literature

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

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

From Literature

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

From The Guardian