Prelector

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A speaker who delivers a formal lecture or reading, particularly at a university or academic gathering ; an academic who teaches as a lecturer or reader at certain British universities
2. Someone who gives a scholarly talk or public reading before an audience ; a teacher holding the post of lecturer or reader at some English colleges
3. One who lectures formally to an assembled group, often in an academic setting ; a university instructor with the title of reader or lecturer in British institutions

Etymology: "Prelector" comes from Latin "praelēctor," a word built from "prae" meaning "before" or "in front of," and "legere," meaning "to read." In Roman usage, a "praelēctor" was a reader who read aloud to an audience, and the Latin root gives the English word its basic shape: someone who reads or speaks out in front of others. The English sense has narrowed over time. Where the Latin term could describe a public reader or an appointed reader in a community, the English word settled on the academic setting, meaning a person who gives a lecture, especially at a university. The reading idea survives in the notion of a speaker presenting material to a seated audience, though the modern word is now tied almost entirely to formal teaching.

Synonyms: lecturer, reader, lector