visitor
Americannoun
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.
“It is,” says Tom Stevens, director of Visitor Services, “the cornerstone of the Rotunda.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 4, 2026
Visitor numbers fell 7.5% in 2025, while gambling became a less important revenue source, now accounting for about 26% of total revenue.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026
Visitor numbers are expected to climb again over the summer.
From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026
Visitor numbers have doubled over the past decade, to 9.7 million in 2025, according to city authorities.
From Barron's • Feb. 19, 2026
I suppose that my extraterrestrial Visitor night puzzle over my records in much the same way, on first listening.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
