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Beginner's Dictionary
       

jan·i·tor

janitor

 
pronunciation:
jae nih tr
features:
Word History, Word Explorer
part of speech: noun
definition: a person whose job is to clean and take care of a building.
 
synonyms:
custodian
similar words:
super, superintendent
derivation: janitorial (adj.)
Word History
There were janitors in ancient Rome, but the word "janitor" meant something different then. It meant "doorkeeper." When it entered the English language in the 1500s, "janitor" still meant "doorkeeper.". Its meaning changed over the next 200 years, and by the 1700s was a word for the caretaker of a building.
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