spectator

English

A group of spectators at a rowing event.

Alternative forms

• spectatour (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin spectātor, from frequentative verb spectō (“watch”), from speciō (“look at”). Equivalent to spectate +‎ -or. Doublet of speculator.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: spĕk.tāʹtə, IPA^(key): /spɛkˈteɪtə/
• (US) enPR: spĕkʹtā.tər, IPA^(key): /ˈspɛkteɪtɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪtə(ɹ)

Noun

spectator (plural spectators)

1. One who watches an event; especially, an event held outdoors.

   The cheering spectators watched the fireworks.

   • 2012 May 20, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Marge Gets A Job” (season 4, episode 7; originally aired 11/05/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[1]:

     Bart spies an opportunity to make a quick buck so he channels his inner carny and posits his sinking house as a natural wonder of the world and its inhabitants as freaks, barking to dazzled spectators, “Behold the horrors of the Slanty Shanty! See the twisted creatures that dwell within! Meet Cue-Ball, the man with no hair!”

2. One who observers, sees, or views something; an observer.
   • 1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page v:

     The ſpring diſplaying her elegant taſte, the proud walk of the gold-feathered pheaſant, the light tread of the ſmall-hoofed hind, and the dancing of the ſtar-trained peacock, infuſed joy into the ſoul of the ſpectator of the aſtoniſhing works of the Creator.

Synonyms

• audience
• observer
• crowd

Derived terms

• spect-actor
• spectate
• spectator chair
• spectatorship
• spectator ion
• spectator ligand
• spectator sport

Translations

observer

• Arabic: مُشَاهِد m (mušāhid), رَاءٍ m (rāʔin), مُتَفَرِّج m (mutafarrij)
• Armenian: հանդիսական (hy) (handisakan), հանդիսատես (hy) (handisates), ականատես (hy) (akanates), դիտող (hy) (ditoġ)
• Azerbaijani: tamaşaçı (az)
• Basque: ikusle (eu)
• Belarusian: гляда́ч (be) m (hljadáč), гляда́чка f (hljadáčka)
• Bulgarian: зри́тел (bg) m (zrítel), зри́телка f (zrítelka)
• Catalan: espectador (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 旁觀者／旁观者 (zh) (pángguānzhě), 觀眾／观众 (zh) (guānzhòng) (spectators, audience)

• Czech: divák (cs) m, divačka f
• Danish: tilskuer c, seer (da) c
• Dutch: toeschouwer (nl) m, kijker (nl) m
• Esperanto: spektanto
• Estonian: pealtvaataja (et)
• Finnish: katsoja (fi), sivustakatsoja (fi)
• French: spectateur (fr) m, spectatrice (fr) f, badaud (fr) m, badaude (fr) f
• Galician: espectador (gl) m
• Georgian: მაყურებელი (maq̇urebeli)
• German: Zuschauer (de) m, Zuschauerin (de) f, Schaulustiger (de) m
• Greek: θεατής (el) m (theatís)

  Ancient: θεατής m (theatḗs)

• Hindi: दर्शक (hi) m (darśak)
• Hungarian: megfigyelő (hu), nézelődő (hu), néző (hu)
• Icelandic: áhorfandi (is) m
• Ido: spektanto (io)
• Italian: spettatore (it)
• Japanese: 観客 (ja) (かんきゃく, kankyaku), 見物人 (ja) (けんぶつにん, kenbutsunin), 傍観者 (ja) (ぼうかんしゃ, bōkansha)
• Kazakh: көрермен (körermen), көруші (köruşı), қараушы (qarauşy)
• Korean: 관람자 (gwallamja), 구경꾼 (ko) (gugyeongkkun)
• Kyrgyz: көрүүчү (ky) (körüücü)
• Latin: spectātor m, spectātrix f
• Macedonian: посматрач m (posmatrač), гледач m (gledač)
• Maori: kaimātakitaki
• Mongolian: үзэгч (mn) (üzegč), ажиглагч (mn) (ažiglagč), гэрч (mn) (gerč)
• Norman: spectateur m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tilskuer m

  Nynorsk: tilskodar m

• Persian: تماشاگر (fa) (tamâšâgar), ناظر (fa) (nâzer), بیننده (fa) (binande)
• Polish: widz (pl) m
• Portuguese: espectador (pt)
• Punjabi: ਤਮਾਸ਼ਬੀਨ m (tamāśbīn)
• Romanian: spectator (ro) m, privitor (ro) m, martor ocular m
• Russian: зри́тель (ru) m (zrítelʹ), зри́тельница (ru) f (zrítelʹnica), наблюда́тель (ru) m (nabljudátelʹ), наблюда́тельница (ru) f (nabljudátelʹnica), зева́ка (ru) m or f (zeváka) (rubberneck)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: посматрач m, гледалац m, гледатељ m

  Roman: posmatrač (sh) m, gledalac (sh) m, gledatelj (sh) m

• Slovak: divák (sk) m, diváčka f
• Slovene: gledalec (sl) m, gledalka f, opazovalec m, opazovalka
• Spanish: espectador (es)
• Swahili: mshabiki (sw)
• Swedish: åskådare (sv)
• Tajik: тамошобин (tamošobin), нозир (tg) (nozir), бинонда (binonda)
• Turkish: seyirci (tr)
• Ukrainian: гляда́ч m (hljadáč), гляда́чка f (hljadáčka)
• Uzbek: tomoshabin (uz)
• Vietnamese: người xem, khán giả (vi)

Anagrams

• attercops, caprettos, catopters

Latin

Etymology

From spectō (“watch”) +‎ -tor, from speciō (“look at”). Doublet of speculator.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /spekˈtaː.tor/, [s̠pɛkˈt̪äːt̪ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /spekˈta.tor/, [spekˈt̪äːt̪or]

Noun

spectātor m (genitive spectātōris); third declension

1. spectator, watcher
2. examiner, judge, critic

   Synonyms: arbiter, iūdex, disceptātor

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	spectātor	spectātōrēs
Genitive	spectātōris	spectātōrum
Dative	spectātōrī	spectātōribus
Accusative	spectātōrem	spectātōrēs
Ablative	spectātōre	spectātōribus
Vocative	spectātor	spectātōrēs

Related terms

• speciō
• spectō
• spectus

Descendants

• Catalan: espectador
• English: spectator
• French: spectateur
• Italian: spettatore
• Norman: spectateur
• Portuguese: espectador
• Romanian: spectator
• Spanish: espectador

References

• “spectator”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “spectator”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• spectator in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • an astronomer: spectator siderum, rerum caelestium or astrologus
    

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French spectateur, from Latin spectator.

Noun

spectator m (plural spectatori)

1. spectator

Declension

Declension of spectator

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) spectator	spectatorul	(niște) spectatori	spectatorii
genitive/dative	(unui) spectator	spectatorului	(unor) spectatori	spectatorilor
vocative	spectatorule		spectatorilor