Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “janitor” come from?

Janitor comes from Latin ianitor, an agent noun formed from Latin -tor combined with Proto-Indo-European yeh₂- meaning "to go," from Proto-Indo-European -tōr.

janitor (English): Someone who looks after the maintenance and...

Definitions

  1. Someone who looks after the maintenance and...

Ancestry of “janitor”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinianitordoorkeeper, doorman, porter; pylorus
2Latin-tor-er
3Proto-Italic-tōr—
4Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
5Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—

Words derived from “janitor”

  • janitorial
  • janitress
  • janitorship
  • janitoring
  • janitorially
  • janitoriat
  • nonjanitorial
  • dyanitor
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →