visitor English · revision 10551

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1426|origins=xno visitour}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈvɪz.ɪ.tə/, US /ˈvɪz.ɪ.t̬ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an agent noun from [[visit]] and partly [[bor|xno|visitour]], Old French visiteor, visitor, inspector,^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(MWU 2024) from visiter, to visit.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One who visits officially to inspect, such as a churchman appointed to visit religious houses: 1426 in the OED;^(OED 1989) the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A person who visits the poor or sick from charitable motives is from about 1430,^(OED 1989) and one who pays a social visit to a person or household from 1607.^(OED 1989) Etymonline notes that a visitor stays longer than a caller and shares more of the social life of the house.^(Etymonline) The official sense survives for the person with a right of supervision over a college or institution (1553).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1426 – an official inspector.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1430 – a charitable visitor.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1553 – a supervisor of an institution.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1607 – a social visitor, a guest.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who [[visit|alt=visits]] a person or place; a [[guest]], [[caller]] or [[tourist]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person with the right to inspect and supervise an institution such as a college.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[visitorial]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[visit]]

+ * [[visitation]]

+ * [[vision]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}