Spectator

How to spell spectator

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce spectator

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does spectator mean?

1. nounA person who watches an event, game, or performance without taking part in it.

Spectator in a sentence

• Every spectator in the stadium rose to their feet for the final goal.

• As a mere spectator, she had no influence over how the match unfolded.

Where does spectator come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes directly from the Latin spectator, meaning 'one who watches or looks on'. It was built on the verb spectare, 'to watch repeatedly or gaze at', which is the frequentative form of specere, 'to look at'. English adopted the word in the late 1500s, originally for someone present at a play or public event without taking part. The same Latin specere root sits inside a whole family of everyday English words, including 'spectacle', 'inspect', 'respect', and 'spectacles' (eyeglasses), all of which carry the idea of looking. Remembering that shared 'spect' (look) root is the key to the spelling: it is built from spect plus the agent ending -ator, so the awkward part is simply the unstressed -ator finish rather than a softer-sounding '-er'.

How the word is built

• spect (look, watch)
• -ator (agent suffix: one who does)