Compere

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈkɒmpɛː(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. An individual who presents and directs an event by introducing various performances or speakers during the program A host responsible for managing the interaction between the audience and participants at a live event Someone who guides the proceedings of a show by engaging with both the audience and the performers throughout the event
2. A person who introduces and organizes segments and acts at an entertainment or public event
3. Someone who leads an event program by presenting participants and maintaining flow among performances

Etymology: The English word has a godfather in its very make-up. Its Latin ancestor, "compater", meant "godfather" or "co-father": a man who stood with a child's real father at baptism, sharing responsibility for the child's spiritual upbringing. The prefix "com-" means "with" and "pater" means "father". From that intimate religious bond, French developed "compère", which came to mean "partner" or even "accomplice", a sense of someone working alongside you in a shared enterprise. English borrowed the French word, and it kept that sense of a companion who helps things along. Over time it narrowed to the stage role we know today: the figure who introduces acts, keeps the audience engaged, and links one performance to the next. The word is a doublet, meaning it sits alongside cousins that descended from the same Latin root by different routes. "Compeer", "compadre" and "goombah" all trace back to the same ancestral idea of a close companion.

Synonyms: host, presenter, emcee, moderator, anchor