receptionist

Etymology

It is formed from English reception + -ist.^[2][3][4][5] The noun reception is from Old French reception and directly from Latin receptiō (“a receiving”), a noun of action from the past participle stem of recipiō (“to hold, contain”).^[3][2] The OED compares the slightly later receptionism.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In theology, a believer in receptionism, the doctrine that the faithful communicant receives the body and blood of Christ together with the unchanged bread and wine: 1867, in G. F. Cobb's Kiss of Peace.^[2][4] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1865–70.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The sense now usual, a person employed to receive and register guests, clients or patients, is recorded by the OED from 1870, in the Quarterly Review.^[2][6] Etymonline dates it only to 1900 and says the word was first used of the staff of photography studios, quoting an article of that year that praised the receptionist as a woman of refined manners who could make or break the photographer's business.^[3] The OED compares the later use of reception for the place where visitors report on arrival at a hotel, office or hospital, recorded from 1917.^[2] The theological noun and the adjective "relating to receptionism" (1870) belong to church controversy.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1867 – a believer in the doctrine of receptionism.^[2][4]
• 1870 – a person employed to receive and register guests, clients or patients.^[2][6] Etymonline dates this sense to 1900, in photography studios.^[3]
• 1870 – adjective, relating to receptionism.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person employed in an office, hotel, surgery or similar place to greet visitors, answer the telephone and arrange appointments: The receptionist at the clinic asked us to wait.^[7][4][2]
2. (theology) A believer in receptionism.^[4][2]

Related words

• receipt
• receive
• receptacle
• receptive
• receptor
• reception
• receptionism

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins