tutor

See also: Tutor

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtutɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  • Homophones: tooter, Tudor
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtjuːtə/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːtə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

From Middle English tutour, from Old French tuteur (French tuteur), from Latin tūtor (“a watcher, protector, guardian”), from tueor (“protect”); see tuition.

Alternative forms

• tutour (archaic)

Noun

tutor (plural tutors)

1. One who teaches another (usually called a student, learner, or tutee) in a one-on-one or small-group interaction.

   He passed the difficult class with help from his tutor.

2. (UK) A university officer responsible for students in a particular hall.
3. (UK) A homeroom
4. (obsolete or Quebec law) One who has the charge of a child or pupil and his estate; a guardian.

Synonyms

• (one who teaches): preceptor

Derived terms

• e-tutor
• tutee
• tutorage
• tutorship
• tutrix

Related terms

• intuition
• tuition
• tutelage
• tutelar
• tutelary
• tutorial

Translations

one who teaches another

• Bulgarian: домашен учител m (domašen učitel), възпитател (bg) m (vǎzpitatel)
• Catalan: tutor (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (private teacher) 私人教師 / 私人教师 (sīrén jiàoshī), (teacher who goes to student's home) 家庭教師 / 家庭教师 (zh) (jiātíng jiàoshī)

• Danish: hjælpelærer c, privatlærer c, lektiehjælper c
• Dutch: studiebegeleider, mentor (nl), privé-leraar
• Finnish: tuutori (fi), tutori, tuutor, tutor (fi), (lower education) tukioppilas, tukari (fi)
• Galician: titor (gl) m, aio (gl) m
• German: Lehrer (de), Nachhilfelehrer (de) m
• Greek: προγυμναστής (el) m (progymnastís)

  Ancient: παιδαγωγός m (paidagōgós)

• Hebrew: מורה פרטי (he) m
• Higaonon: magtutudlo
• Irish: oide (ga) m, teagascóir m
• Italian: istitutore (it) m, istitutrice f, precettore (it) m, precettrice (it) f, aio (it) m, aia (it) f
• Japanese: 家庭教師 (ja) (かていきょうしkatei kyoushi)
• Korean: 튜터 (tyuteo)
• Latin: praeceptor (la) m, praeceptrix f, tutor m, ēductor m
• Macedonian: воспи́тувач m (vospítuvač), у́чител (mk) m (účitel)
• Maori: pouako
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hjelpelærer m, gruppelærer m, privatlærer m

• Plautdietsch: Priewautliera m
• Polish: tutor (pl) m
• Portuguese: tutor (pt) m
• Romanian: meditator (ro) m
• Russian: репети́тор (ru) m (repetítor)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: скр̑бнӣк m, скрбкиња f

  Roman: skȓbnīk (sh) m, skrbkinja f

• Spanish: tutor (es) m, protutor m, contutor m (disused), acudiente (es) m or f
• Swedish: informator (sv) c, lärare (sv) c, guvernant (sv) c, privatlärare (sv) c
• Thai: ครูพิเศษ
• Turkish: lala (tr)
• Ukrainian: репети́тор m (repetýtor)
• Vietnamese: gia sư (vi)
• Welsh: tiwtor m, tiwtores f

Verb

tutor (third-person singular simple present tutors, present participle tutoring, simple past and past participle tutored)

1. (transitive) To instruct or teach, especially an individual or small group.

   To help pay her tuition, the college student began to tutor high school students in calculus and physics.

2. (transitive, archaic) To treat with authority or sternness.

Translations

to instruct or teach, especially to an individual or small group

• Bulgarian: давам уроци (davam uroci)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 輔導 / 辅导 (zh) (fǔdǎo), 个人辅导

• Finnish: tuutoroida, tutoroida, avustaa (fi)
• Irish: teagasc
• Italian: insegnare (it), istruire (it)
• Portuguese: tutelar (pt), tutorar (pt)
• Romanian: medita (ro)
• Russian: дава́ть уро́ки (davátʹ uróki)
• Spanish: enseñar (es), instruir (es), tutorizar, tutelar (es), tutorar (es) (DEA)
• Swedish: undervisa (sv), handleda (sv)

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “tutor”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “tutor”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “tutor”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Etymology 2

Ellipsis of Demonic tutor, name of an early Magic: The Gathering card with this effect.

Noun

tutor (plural tutors)

1. (collectible card games) A card that allows one to search one's deck for one or more other cards.
   • 1998 April 5, kc...@pcmagic.com, “tutor ideas”, in rec.games.trading-cards.magic.misc‎^[1] (Usenet), retrieved 2019-05-09, message-ID <<35271e02.1847089@news.pcmagic.net>>:

     here are some tutor cards i thought would be interesting.

Verb

tutor (third-person singular simple present tutors, present participle tutoring, simple past and past participle tutored)

1. (collectible card games) To fetch a card from one's deck.
   • 2002, David Seiler, “Type I -- What do you think about Wishes and how do you plan to break them?”, in rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy‎^[2] (Usenet):

     Any instant that you move to the board can *only* be tutored for with Cunning Wish.

Anagrams

• Routt, Trout, trout

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tūtōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [tuˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [tuˈtoɾ]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [tuˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [tuˈtoɾ]

Noun

tutor m (plural tutors, feminine tutora)

1. tutor (teacher)
2. guardian (person responsible for another)

Related terms

• tutela
• tutoria

References

• “tutor” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Further reading

• “tutor”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April

Chinese

Etymology 1

From English tutor.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tiu¹ taa² / tiu¹ taa⁴

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: tiu¹ taa² / tiu¹ taa⁴
    • Yale: tīu tá / tīu tàh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tiu¹ taa² / tiu¹ taa⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: tiu¹ ta² / tiu¹ ta⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːu̯⁵⁵ tʰaː³⁵/, /tʰiːu̯⁵⁵ tʰaː²¹/

Noun

tutor

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) tutor (one who teaches)

Etymology 2

From clipping of English tutorial.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tiu⁶ to¹

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: tiu⁶ to¹
    • Yale: tiuh tō
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tiu⁶ to¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: tiu⁶ to¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːu̯²² tʰɔː⁵⁵/

Noun

tutor

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, university slang) tutorial

   上tutor [Cantonese]  ―  soeng⁵ tiu⁶ to¹ [Jyutping]  ―  to attend tutorial class

References

• English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese
• John Gibbons (1987) “Code-mixing and code choice : a Hong Kong case study”, in Multilingual Matters (in Chinese), page 56

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtu(ː)tor/, [ˈt̪u(ː)t̪o̞r]
• Rhymes: -utor
• Syllabification^(key): tu‧tor
• Hyphenation^(key): tu‧tor

Noun

tutor

1. Alternative form of tuutori.

Declension

Inflection of tutor (Kotus type 6/paperi, no gradation)
nominative		tutor	tutorit
genitive		tutorin	tutorien tutoreiden tutoreitten
partitive		tutoria	tutoreita tutoreja
illative		tutoriin	tutoreihin
		singular	plural
nominative		tutor	tutorit
accusative	nom.	tutor	tutorit
	gen.	tutorin
genitive		tutorin	tutorien tutoreiden tutoreitten
partitive		tutoria	tutoreita tutoreja
inessive		tutorissa	tutoreissa
elative		tutorista	tutoreista
illative		tutoriin	tutoreihin
adessive		tutorilla	tutoreilla
ablative		tutorilta	tutoreilta
allative		tutorille	tutoreille
essive		tutorina	tutoreina
translative		tutoriksi	tutoreiksi
abessive		tutoritta	tutoreitta
instructive		—	tutorein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of tutor (Kotus type 6/paperi, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tutorini tutorini accusative nom. tutorini tutorini gen. tutorini genitive tutorini tutorieni tutoreideni tutoreitteni partitive tutoriani tutoreitani tutorejani inessive tutorissani tutoreissani elative tutoristani tutoreistani illative tutoriini tutoreihini adessive tutorillani tutoreillani ablative tutoriltani tutoreiltani allative tutorilleni tutoreilleni essive tutorinani tutoreinani translative tutorikseni tutoreikseni abessive tutorittani tutoreittani instructive — — comitative — tutoreineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tutorisi tutorisi accusative nom. tutorisi tutorisi gen. tutorisi genitive tutorisi tutoriesi tutoreidesi tutoreittesi partitive tutoriasi tutoreitasi tutorejasi inessive tutorissasi tutoreissasi elative tutoristasi tutoreistasi illative tutoriisi tutoreihisi adessive tutorillasi tutoreillasi ablative tutoriltasi tutoreiltasi allative tutorillesi tutoreillesi essive tutorinasi tutoreinasi translative tutoriksesi tutoreiksesi abessive tutorittasi tutoreittasi instructive — — comitative — tutoreinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tutorimme tutorimme accusative nom. tutorimme tutorimme gen. tutorimme genitive tutorimme tutoriemme tutoreidemme tutoreittemme partitive tutoriamme tutoreitamme tutorejamme inessive tutorissamme tutoreissamme elative tutoristamme tutoreistamme illative tutoriimme tutoreihimme adessive tutorillamme tutoreillamme ablative tutoriltamme tutoreiltamme allative tutorillemme tutoreillemme essive tutorinamme tutoreinamme translative tutoriksemme tutoreiksemme abessive tutorittamme tutoreittamme instructive — — comitative — tutoreinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tutorinne tutorinne accusative nom. tutorinne tutorinne gen. tutorinne genitive tutorinne tutorienne tutoreidenne tutoreittenne partitive tutorianne tutoreitanne tutorejanne inessive tutorissanne tutoreissanne elative tutoristanne tutoreistanne illative tutoriinne tutoreihinne adessive tutorillanne tutoreillanne ablative tutoriltanne tutoreiltanne allative tutorillenne tutoreillenne essive tutorinanne tutoreinanne translative tutoriksenne tutoreiksenne abessive tutorittanne tutoreittanne instructive — — comitative — tutoreinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative tutorinsa tutorinsa accusative nom. tutorinsa tutorinsa gen. tutorinsa genitive tutorinsa tutoriensa tutoreidensa tutoreittensa partitive tutoriaan tutoriansa tutoreitaan tutorejaan tutoreitansa tutorejansa inessive tutorissaan tutorissansa tutoreissaan tutoreissansa elative tutoristaan tutoristansa tutoreistaan tutoreistansa illative tutoriinsa tutoreihinsa adessive tutorillaan tutorillansa tutoreillaan tutoreillansa ablative tutoriltaan tutoriltansa tutoreiltaan tutoreiltansa allative tutorilleen tutorillensa tutoreilleen tutoreillensa essive tutorinaan tutorinansa tutoreinaan tutoreinansa translative tutorikseen tutoriksensa tutoreikseen tutoreiksensa abessive tutorittaan tutorittansa tutoreittaan tutoreittansa instructive — — comitative — tutoreineen tutoreinensa

Derived terms

• tutoroida

Further reading

• “tutor”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03

Anagrams

• rutot, rutto, torut, turot

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈtuː.tɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈt̪uː.t̪or]

Etymology 1

From tueor +‎ -tor, via the old past participle tūtus (later replaced by tuitus).

Noun

tūtor m (genitive tūtōris, feminine tūtrīx); third declension

1. watcher, protector, defender
2. guardian (of minors)
3. tutor

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	tūtor	tūtōrēs
genitive	tūtōris	tūtōrum
dative	tūtōrī	tūtōribus
accusative	tūtōrem	tūtōrēs
ablative	tūtōre	tūtōribus
vocative	tūtor	tūtōrēs

Descendants

Descendants

• → Catalan: tutor
• → English: tutor
• → Finnish: tuutori
• → French: tuteur
• → Galician: titor
• → Italian: tutore
• → Portuguese: tutor
• → Spanish: tutor

Etymology 2

From tueor +‎ -tō, via the old past participle tūtus (later replaced by tuitus).

Alternative forms

• tūtō

Verb

tūtor (present infinitive tūtārī or tūtārier, perfect active tūtātus sum); first conjugation, deponent

1. to guard, protect, defend

   Synonyms: prōtegō, dēfendō, vindicō, salvō, cū̆stōdiō, sospitō, praeservō, arceō, servō, tegō, adsum, tueor, sustineō, teneō, adimō, prohibeō, mūniō, ēripiō

   Antonyms: immineō, īnstō, obiectō

2. to ward off, avert

Conjugation

   Conjugation of tūtor (first conjugation, deponent)

indicative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	tūtor		tūtāris, tūtāre		tūtātur		tūtāmur		tūtāminī		tūtantur
	imperfect	tūtābar		tūtābāris, tūtābāre		tūtābātur		tūtābāmur		tūtābāminī		tūtābantur
	future	tūtābor		tūtāberis, tūtābere		tūtābitur		tūtābimur		tūtābiminī		tūtābuntur
	perfect	tūtātus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	tūtātus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	tūtātus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	tūter		tūtēris, tūtēre		tūtētur		tūtēmur		tūtēminī		tūtentur
	imperfect	tūtārer		tūtārēris, tūtārēre		tūtārētur		tūtārēmur		tūtārēminī		tūtārentur
	perfect	tūtātus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	tūtātus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	—		tūtāre		—		—		tūtāminī		—
	future	—		tūtātor		tūtātor		—		—		tūtantor
non-finite forms		infinitive						participle
		active			passive			active			passive
present		tūtārī, tūtārier1			—			tūtāns			—
future		tūtātūrum esse			—			tūtātūrus			tūtandus
perfect		tūtātum esse			—			tūtātus			—
future perfect		tūtātum fore			—			—			—
perfect potential		tūtātūrum fuisse			—			—			—
verbal nouns		gerund								supine
		genitive		dative		accusative		ablative		accusative		ablative
		tūtandī		tūtandō		tūtandum		tūtandō		tūtātum		tūtātū

¹The present passive infinitive in -ier is a rare poetic form which is attested.

Descendants

• Catalan: tudar
• Franco-Provençal: tuar
• Old French: tuer (see there for further descendants)
• Old Occitan: tudar, tuar
  • Occitan: tuar
• Sardinian: tutare (Bitti)
• Vulgar Latin: *adtūtāre, *extūtāre, *distūtāre (see there for further descendants)

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “tutari”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 13: To–Tyrus, page 449

Further reading

• “tutor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tutor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "tutor", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “tutor”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “tutor”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English tutor, from Middle English tutour, from Old French tuteur, from Latin tūtor, from tueor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtu.tɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -utɔr
• Syllabification: tu‧tor

Noun

tutor m pers

1. tutor (university officer responsible for students in a particular hall)
2. (archaic) tutor (one who teaches another in a one-on-one or small-group interaction)

Declension

Declension of tutor

	singular	plural
nominative	tutor	tutorzy/tutory (deprecative)
genitive	tutora	tutorów
dative	tutorowi	tutorom
accusative	tutora	tutorów
instrumental	tutorem	tutorami
locative	tutorze	tutorach
vocative	tutorze	tutorzy

Derived terms

adjective

• tutorski

Further reading

• tutor in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin tūtōrem.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /tuˈtoʁ/ [tuˈtoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /tuˈtoʁ/ [tuˈtoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /tuˈtoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /tuˈtoʁ/ [tuˈtoχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /tuˈtoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tuˈtoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tuˈtoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /tuˈto.ɾi/

• Rhymes: (Portugal, São Paulo) -oɾ, (Brazil) -oʁ
• Hyphenation: tu‧tor

Noun

tutor m (plural tutores, feminine tutora, feminine plural tutoras)

1. tutor (one who teaches in a one-on-one or small-group interaction)
2. (law) guardian (person legally responsible for a minor or incompetent person)
3. (neologism) pet owner

   Synonym: dono

Derived terms

• tutorar
• tutorear
• tutoria
• tutorial

Descendants

• → Tetum: tutór

Further reading

• “tutor”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tutor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tûːtor/
• Hyphenation: tu‧tor

Noun

tȗtor m (Cyrillic spelling ту̑тор)

1. tutor
2. guardian

Declension

Declension of tutor

	singular	plural
nominative	tutor	tutori
genitive	tutora	tutora
dative	tutoru	tutorima
accusative	tutora	tutore
vocative	tutore	tutori
locative	tutoru	tutorima
instrumental	tutorom	tutorima

References

• “tutor”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tutorem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tuˈtoɾ/ [t̪uˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: tu‧tor

Noun

tutor m (plural tutores, feminine tutora, feminine plural tutoras)

1. guardian (person responsible for another)
2. tutor (teacher)
3. (horticulture) trellis

Related terms

• tutela
• tutoría

Further reading

• “tutor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Noun

tutor

1. indefinite plural of tuta