Custodian, Janitor
What is the difference between a custodian and a janitor?
Custodian comes from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root (s)skeu (to cover, conceal). From this source comes Latin custos, custodis (guardian, keeper, protector) and custodia (guarding, watching, keeping) which lead to mid-15th century English custody (a keeping, watching, safe-keeping, protection, defense). Custody, meaning restraint of liberty or confinement, is from the 1580s.
A custodian, someone who has the care or custody of anything, is from 1781. The term ‘janitor’, originally custodian-janitor, is from American English, 1944. The custodian is most often the person with the keys to a building and the one who controls access in the ‘off-hours’.
The word janitor comes from the Roman god Janus, the guardian of portals, doors, and gates, and the patron of beginnings and endings. Janus is the source of the word January. The word Janus comes from Latin ianua (door, entrance, gate) and Latin ianus (gate, arched passageway) and perhaps from the PIE root ei (to go). Latin ianitor was a doorkeeper or porter.
The word janitor comes to English in the 1580s as an usher in a school. By the 1620s, the word meant a doorkeeper. Janitor meaning the caretaker of a building or a person employed to see that the rooms are kept clean and in order is first seen in 1708. The feminine forms of janitor were janitress (1806) and janitrix (1818), words which have now fallen out of use.
In brief, a custodian was originally a guard or watchman over something. A janitor was the guardian of a gate or a doorkeeper or porter. The word janitor gradually came to mean someone responsible for the care and maintenance of a building; however, today, the word more commonly used is custodian as janitor has also now also fallen out of common use.
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
Custodian comes from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root (s)skeu (to cover, conceal). From this source comes Latin custos, custodis (guardian, keeper, protector) and custodia (guarding, watching, keeping) which lead to mid-15th century English custody (a keeping, watching, safe-keeping, protection, defense). Custody, meaning restraint of liberty or confinement, is from the 1580s.
A custodian, someone who has the care or custody of anything, is from 1781. The term ‘janitor’, originally custodian-janitor, is from American English, 1944. The custodian is most often the person with the keys to a building and the one who controls access in the ‘off-hours’.
The word janitor comes from the Roman god Janus, the guardian of portals, doors, and gates, and the patron of beginnings and endings. Janus is the source of the word January. The word Janus comes from Latin ianua (door, entrance, gate) and Latin ianus (gate, arched passageway) and perhaps from the PIE root ei (to go). Latin ianitor was a doorkeeper or porter.
The word janitor comes to English in the 1580s as an usher in a school. By the 1620s, the word meant a doorkeeper. Janitor meaning the caretaker of a building or a person employed to see that the rooms are kept clean and in order is first seen in 1708. The feminine forms of janitor were janitress (1806) and janitrix (1818), words which have now fallen out of use.
In brief, a custodian was originally a guard or watchman over something. A janitor was the guardian of a gate or a doorkeeper or porter. The word janitor gradually came to mean someone responsible for the care and maintenance of a building; however, today, the word more commonly used is custodian as janitor has also now also fallen out of common use.
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
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