usher

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To lead or guide someone to a place, especially to their seat.

   An attendant ushered us to our seats near the front of the theatre.

2. 2
   noun

   A person who shows people to their seats at an event such as a wedding or concert.

   The usher handed each guest a programme at the door.

3. 3
   verb

   To mark or bring in the start of something new.

   The new law ushered in a period of major reform.

Multiword verbs with usher

• usher in Phrasal verb B2

  to mark or help bring about the beginning of something

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Usher ultimately rests on Latin ostium, “door,” because an usher was originally a doorkeeper. The role expanded to include conducting people to their seats and, historically, serving as an assistant schoolmaster.

From Middle English ussher, uscher, usscher, from Anglo-Norman usser and Old French ussier, uissier (“porter, doorman”) (compare French huissier), from Vulgar Latin *ustiārius (“doorkeeper”), from Latin ōstiārius, from ōstium (“door”). Akin to ōs (“mouth”). Probably a doublet of ostiary and huissier.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary