Approacher

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An individual who draws near to another, often for the purpose of starting a dialogue or a connection
2. A person who moves closer to someone, usually with the aim of initiating interaction or conveying a message
3. A person who moves toward another entity, often to engage or communicate

Etymology: "Approacher" is about as plain as English word-building gets: it is "approach" with the agent suffix "-er" added, so it means a person or thing that approaches. The suffix comes from Old English "-ere," which attached to verbs to name the doer of an action, as in "teacher" or "singer." The verb "approach" itself arrived in English through Old French "aprochier," from Late Latin "appropiare," meaning to draw near, built from Latin "ad" (toward) and "propius" (nearer). The pairing of a Latin-derived stem with a native English suffix is ordinary, since English has long fused the two layers freely. Because "approach" is the base, the noun simply follows the verb's sense of drawing closer, and the word needed no separate invention to name someone doing so.

Synonyms: entrant, visitor