realtor

Etymology

It was formed in American English from realty and -or,^[1][2] as if an agent noun of realty.^[2] Etymonline credits the coinage to the Minneapolis real-estate agent Charles N. Chadbourn, who wanted to distinguish the reputable part of the trade.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A real-estate agent (1916).^[1][2][3]

Semantic evolution

In 1916 the National Association of Real Estate Boards adopted the word as the title of its active members,^[2][3] and it defended the term in court before registering Realtor as a collective mark in 1948.^[1][2] In general use it is often written in lower case for any real-estate agent.^[4][5]

Timeline

• 1916 – coined and adopted by the real-estate boards.^[1][2][3]
• 1920s – popularized.^[2]
• 1948 – registered as a collective mark.^[1][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A real estate agent who is a member of the National Association of Realtors (a service mark).
2. Any person or business that sells or leases property as an agent for the owner.

Related words

• realty
• real estate

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster marks a pronunciation with an extra vowel between the l and the t as questioned by some,^[6] and Wiktionary also labels it as proscribed.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster