reporter
Pronunciation
- IPA: UK /rɪˈpɔː.tə/, US /rɪˈpɔːr.t̬ɚ/[1]
Etymology
It is Middle English reportour, borrowed from Anglo-Norman reportour, Old French reporteur (modern French rapporteur), or else an agent noun from report,[2][3][4] later altered to match -er.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
One who reports or relates something: about 1386 in the OED, about 1400 in Etymonline.[5][2]
Semantic evolution
In the 16th and 17th centuries a reporter was often a tale-bearer.[2] One appointed to draw up a report is from 1625,[5] and one who takes down reports of law cases from before 1617, the 1610s in Etymonline.[5][2] The newspaper reporter, who gathers news or reports debates, is from 1798, and the word appears in newspaper titles from 1797.[5][2] French reporter in this sense is a 19th-century borrowing from English.[2] In the United States, a dog that finds a covey of birds is from 1895.[5]
Timeline
- c. 1386 – one who relates.[5]
- a1617 – a law reporter.[5]
- 1625 – one who draws up a report.[5]
- 1797 – in newspaper titles.[5]
- 1798 – a news reporter.[5]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A person who collects and reports news for a newspaper or broadcaster.
- A person who writes official reports of court cases or debates.
Word family
- reportorial
- reportorially
- court reporter
- cub reporter
- police reporter
Related words
- report
- portable
- rapporteur
References
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press