tutorial

Etymology

It is from Latin tūtōrius (“of a guardian”) with the suffix -al.^[2][3][4][5] The Latin adjective comes from tūtor (“guardian, protector”), the source of tutor, a noun formed on the past participle of tueor (“to watch over, look at”).^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to a legal guardian: 1742, according to Etymonline;^[6] the OED's first example is from Lord Kames in 1766, in Roman and Scots law,^[2] and the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English date the word to the early 18th century.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

The adjective moved from guardians to teachers: "of a tutor or instructor", especially a college tutor, is recorded from Macaulay in 1822.^[2][6][3] The noun, a period of instruction given by a university tutor to one student or a small group, appears in 1923, in George Saintsbury,^[2][6][3] and remains a feature of British university teaching.^[8] With computers it came to mean a printed account of a subject for study on one's own (1978),^[2][6] or a program that teaches the use of software.^[9] Since 1984 it has also meant a video showing how to carry out a task.^[2]

Timeline

• 1742 – of a legal guardian.^[6]
• 1766 – the OED's first example, in Scots law.^[2]
• 1822 – of a teacher or tutor.^[2][3]
• 1923 – the noun, a tutor's teaching session.^[2][3]
• 1978 – an explanation of a subject for private study.^[2][6]
• 1984 – a video demonstration of a task.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A period of teaching by a tutor for one student or a small group, especially at a university.
2. A book, program, video or web page that teaches a skill or subject step by step: an online tutorial on editing photos.

Adjective

1. Of, relating to, or given by a tutor.
2. (Roman law, Scots law) Of a legal guardian.

Word family

• nontutorial

Related words

• tutor
• tuition
• intuition
• tutelage

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt