tutor

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtjuːtə/, /ˈt͡ʃuːtə/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tutour, borrowed from Old French tutour (“guardian, private teacher”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Latin tūtor (“guardian, watcher”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from tūtus, past participle of tuērī “to watch over, guard”.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} It is related to tuition and tutelage.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A guardian or protector (1377); also the guardian of a minor and his property (1382).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

From the late 14th century the word also meant one who instructs another, a private teacher (1398 in the OED).^[4][7] At Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin a tutor was a fellow responsible for the supervision of an undergraduate (c. 1610),^[7] and in American colleges a junior teacher below a professor (1828).^[7][6] The legal sense of a guardian survives in Scots and Roman law.^[7][2] The verb dates from 1592.^[7][3][5]

Timeline

• 1377 – a guardian or protector.^[7][3]
• 1398 – a private teacher.^[7]
• 1592 – verb, to teach privately.^[7][3][5]
• c. 1610 – a university tutor.^[7]
• 1742 – tutorial (adjective).^[3]
• 1923 – tutorial (noun).^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A private teacher, or one who gives additional, special or remedial instruction to an individual or small group.
2. At some British universities, a member of staff, usually a fellow, responsible for the teaching and supervision of undergraduates.
3. In some American colleges, a teacher ranking below an instructor.
4. (law) The guardian of a minor and of the minor's property.

Verb

1. To act as a tutor to; to teach privately.
2. To work as a tutor, or to study under one.

Word family

• untutored
• tutee

Related words

• intuition
• tuition
• tutelage
• tutelar
• tutelary
• tutorial

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ 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