janitor
someone who looks after a building
TRANSLATION
janitor = Dienst habender Wächter; der Hausmeister; der Pförtner; der Portier
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
After a performance of Beethoven's "Leonora Overture No. 3" one evening, during which the offstage trumpet call had twice failed to sound on cue, an angry Stokowski raced from the rostrum in search of the deliquent trumpeter - whom he found in the wings, violently struggling with a heavy janitor. "You can't blow that damn thing here, I tell you!" the janitor cried. "There's a concert going on!"
Stokowski, Leopold (1882-1977) British-born American conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra (1922-38)
Stokowski, Leopold (1882-1977) British-born American conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra (1922-38)
Did you
know?
jan-i-tor
noun
1. One who attends to the maintenance or cleaning of a building.
2. A doorman.
From Latin ianitor, doorkeeper, from ianua, door, from ianus, archway
Word History:
In Latin ianus was the word for “archway, gateway, or covered passage” and also for the god of gates, doorways, and beginnings in general. As many schoolchildren know, our month January (a month of beginnings) is named after the god.
Latin ianitor, the source of our word janitor and ultimately also from ianus, meant “doorkeeper or gatekeeper.” Probably because ianitor was common in Latin records and documents, it was adopted into English, first being recorded in the sense “doorkeeper” around 1567 in a Scots text. In an early quotation Saint Peter is called “the Janitor of heaven.” The term can still mean “doorkeeper,” but in Scots usage janitor also referred to a minor school official. Apparently this position at times involved maintenance duties and doorkeeping, and the maintenance duties took over the more responsible tasks, giving us the position of janitor as we know it today.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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USAGE:
In Britain we also use the word "caretaker"
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IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"Did you ask the janitor if the parcel has arrived?"
noun
1. One who attends to the maintenance or cleaning of a building.
2. A doorman.
From Latin ianitor, doorkeeper, from ianua, door, from ianus, archway
Word History:
In Latin ianus was the word for “archway, gateway, or covered passage” and also for the god of gates, doorways, and beginnings in general. As many schoolchildren know, our month January (a month of beginnings) is named after the god.
Latin ianitor, the source of our word janitor and ultimately also from ianus, meant “doorkeeper or gatekeeper.” Probably because ianitor was common in Latin records and documents, it was adopted into English, first being recorded in the sense “doorkeeper” around 1567 in a Scots text. In an early quotation Saint Peter is called “the Janitor of heaven.” The term can still mean “doorkeeper,” but in Scots usage janitor also referred to a minor school official. Apparently this position at times involved maintenance duties and doorkeeping, and the maintenance duties took over the more responsible tasks, giving us the position of janitor as we know it today.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
---
USAGE:
In Britain we also use the word "caretaker"
---
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"Did you ask the janitor if the parcel has arrived?"
