Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounSomeone who travels for pleasure rather than for business.
nounSomeone who travels for pleasure rather than for business; a leisure visitor.
Sentence Examples
Kyoto depends on the tourist industry.
Visiting all the tourist sights really wore me out.
Beware of dishonest traders in the tourist areas.
CEFR Practice Quiz
A ____ asked me for directions to the famous history museum yesterday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
As a typical ____, I spent the whole morning taking photos of the famous monuments and buying some souvenirs today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *terh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *-nos
Proto-Indo-European *tórh₁nos
Proto-Hellenic *tórnos
Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos)bor.
Latin tornus
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -ō
Latin tornō
Old French torner
Old French tourder.
English tour
Proto-Indo-European *-id-
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti
Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō
Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)
Proto-Hellenic *-tās
Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs)
Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor.
Latin -istader.
Old French -istebor.
Middle English -ist
English -ist
English tourist
From tour + -ist. Doublet of turista.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"The group operating where we were was called the "Abu Sayyaf" and specialised in K&R (kidnap and ransom), usually of tourists who would finish up beheaded on TV."
— 2005, Paul Carter, Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, page 94:
"Marla - the big tourist. The faker."
— 1999, David Fincher, director, Fight Club, spoken by The Narrator (Edward Norton):
"This popularity was supposedly due to M.I.T.'s tolerance of "tourists" on its system."
— 1984, Dean Gengle, The Netweaver's Sourcebook, page 105:
"The online tourists then uploaded the files to share with other BBS aficionados."
— 2012, Michael Banks, On the Way to the Web: