visitor
Americannoun
-
visitors
plural
noun
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a person who pays a visit; caller, guest, tourist, etc
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another name for visitant
Synonym Usage
Visitor, caller, guest, visitant are terms for a person who comes to spend time with or stay with others, or in a place. A visitor often stays some time, for social pleasure, for business, sightseeing, etc.: a visitor at our neighbor's house. A caller comes for a brief (usually) formal visit: The caller merely left her card. A guest is anyone receiving hospitality, and the word has been extended to include anyone who pays for meals and lodging: a welcome guest; a hotel guest. Visitant applies especially to a migratory bird or to a supernatural being: a warbler as a visitant.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of visitor
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English visitour, from Anglo-French; Old French visiteor, from Late Latin vīsitātor, equivalent to Latin vīsitā(re) “to go to see, visit” ( see visit) + -tor -tor
Explanation
A visitor is someone who is in a place temporarily. If you spend a week on an island during the summer, you're a visitor there, unlike the people who live on the island year-round. When you visit someone, you're a visitor in their home, and if someone visits your school, whether to put on a puppet show or a book fair or a presentation about safety, they're a visitor too. It's also common to refer to an opposing sports team as visitors when they come to play on your team's home turf — but when your team travels for an away game, you're the visitors.
Vocabulary lists containing visitor
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.
See Examples For:
Astronomers have detected subtle changes in the star's shape that suggest something is moving through its outer layers, disturbing the surrounding gas like an unseen visitor making noise inside a house.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2026
In Zana, he was a regular visitor for the feast of Saint Toribio on April 27, among other events.
From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026
The visitor center provides costumes and pitchforks to tourists wishing to re-enact the painting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Raman’s office said it had identified funding for a pilot plan to address traffic around the Hollywood sign on peak visitor days and holidays.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
The visitor turned out to be Garth Tugwell and his father!
From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney
Planned to accommodate about 5 million annual visitors, the Louvre as it currently stands was visited by some 9 million people in 2025, and has had over 10 million in years past.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
"It's only been open in the summer in the past, but we will be taking the winter to kind of get it ready for visitors in the spring – early March or certainly before Easter."
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
The Olympic Games are less than two years away, and the sheriff’s department will be expected to play a major role in keeping millions of visitors and athletes safe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
Dozens of visitors have begun flocking to a new museum opened by Iraq's Jewish community, the first of its kind, amid ongoing efforts by the minority to preserve its heritage.
From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026
Mr. Stone worried there weren’t enough places for visitors to sleep.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
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