janitor

jan·i·tor  (jn-tr)

n.

1. One who attends to the maintenance or cleaning of a building.

2. A doorman.

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[Latin initor, doorkeeper, from inua, door, from inus, archway; see ei- in Indo-European roots.]

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jani·tori·al (-tôr-l, -tr-) adj.

Word History: A holiday for janitors ought to take place in January, for both words are linked. In Latin inus was the word for "archway, gateway, or covered passage" and also for the god of gates, doorways, and beginnings in general. As many schoolchildren know, our month Januarya month of beginningsis named for the god. Latin initor, the source of our word janitor and ultimately also from inus, meant "doorkeeper or gatekeeper." Probably because initor was common in Latin records and documents, it was adopted into English, first being recorded in the sense "doorkeeper" around 1567 in a Scots text. In an early quotation Saint Peter is called "the Janitor of heaven." The term can still mean "doorkeeper," but in Scots usage janitor also referred to a minor school official. Apparently this position at times involved maintenance duties and doorkeeping, and the maintenance duties took over the more exalted tasks, giving us the position of janitor as we know it today.

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janitor [ˈdʒænɪtə]

n

1. Scot, US, and Canadian the caretaker of a building, esp a school

2. Chiefly US and Canadian a person employed to clean and maintain a building, esp the public areas in a block of flats or office building; porter

[from Latin: doorkeeper, from jānua door, entrance, from jānus covered way (compare Janus¹); related to Latin īre to go]

janitorial  [ˌdʒænɪˈtɔːrɪəl] adj

janitress  fem n

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

janitor - someone employed to clean and maintain a building custodian, keeper, steward - one having charge of buildings or grounds or animals

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janitor

noun caretaker, porter, custodian, concierge, doorkeeper My mother was the janitor in the town school.

Translations

janitor [ˈdʒænɪtəʳ] N (= doorkeeper) → portero/a m/f; (= caretaker) → conserje mf

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janitor [ˈdʒænɪtə^r] n (= caretaker) → concierge m
He's a janitor → Il est concierge.

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janitor

n → Hausmeister(in) m(f); (of block of flats also) → Hauswart(in) m(f)

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janitor [ˈdʒænɪtəʳ] (esp Am, Scot) n (caretaker) → custode m (Scol) → bidello

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janitor [ˈdʒænɪtəʳ] (esp Am, Scot) n (caretaker) → custode m (Scol) → bidello

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janitor

n janitor [ˈdʒӕnitə]

a caretaker or a doorkeeper. deurwaarder, deurwagter, حارِس بِنايَه разсилен vrátný, -á; domovník, -ice vicevært; portner der/die Pförtner(in) επιστάτης, θυρωρός conserje, portero; conserje, portera uksehoidja, majahoidja سرایدار؛ دربان talonmies concierge שָׁרַת दरबान domar portás penjaga pintu atau gedung húsvörður portiere; bidello 門番 잡역부, 청소부 sargas, durininkas šveicars; vārtsargs penjaga portier vaktmester, portner dozorca, woźny porteiro administrator; portar привратник vrátnik, -čka; domovník, -čka hišnik domar (domarka), nastojnik (nastojnica) fastighetsskötare, dörrvakt ภารโรง kapıcı, odacı 看門人，門房看門人 сторож; швейцар دربان người trông nhà 看门人

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janitor → حاجب školník pedel Hausmeister επιστάτης conserje talonmies concierge čistač bidello 用務員 수위 conciërge vaktmester odźwierny zelador вахтер vaktmästare ภารโรง bina sorumlusu người trông coi 看门人