janitor

[ jan-i-ter ]
/ ˈdʒæn ɪ tər /

noun

a person employed in an apartment house, office building, school, etc., to clean the public areas, remove garbage, and do minor repairs; caretaker.
Archaic. a doorkeeper or porter.

verb (used without object)

to be employed as a janitor.

Origin of janitor

1575–85; < Latin jānitor doorkeeper, equivalent to jāni- (combining form of jānus doorway, covered passage) + -tor -tor

OTHER WORDS FROM janitor

jan·i·to·ri·al [jan-i-tawr-ee-uh l, -tohr-] /ˌdʒæn ɪˈtɔr i əl, -ˈtoʊr-/, adjective un·der·jan·i·tor, noun

Words nearby janitor

janiform, janina, janine, janissary, janissary music, janitor, janitress, janjaweed, jannings, jannock, janny

Example sentences from the Web for janitorial

British Dictionary definitions for janitorial

janitor
/ (ˈdʒænɪtə) /

noun

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

Derived forms of janitor

janitorial (ˌdʒænɪˈtɔːrɪəl), adjective janitress, fem n

Word Origin for janitor

C17: from Latin: doorkeeper, from jānua door, entrance, from jānus covered way (compare Janus 1); related to Latin īre to go