Janitress
/ˈdʒænɪtrəs/noun
A woman who works as a janitor or cleaner.
Did you know?Janitress comes from the Latin root for “door” (*ianua*), because a janitor was originally a doorkeeper; the word once meant someone who guards the threshold, not just someone who cleans it.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*hey-
“to go, move”
Latin
Latin
ianua
“door, entrance”
Latin
Latin
ianitor
“doorkeeper, porter”
Late Latin
Latin
ianitrix
“female doorkeeper”
Middle English
English
janitress
“female janitor or female doorkeeper”
Modern English
English
janitress
“a woman employed to clean and maintain a building”