Reviewers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who critically examine and judge the quality or content of works, performances, or products
2. Persons tasked with providing evaluations and opinions on various subjects or items based on established criteria
3. Those who analyze and offer feedback or critique to inform others about the merits or faults of a given thing

Etymology: "Reviewers" is the plural of "reviewer," which is formed from "review" and the suffix "-er." The suffix is the familiar agent ending, the same one found in "baker" or "writer," and it marks a person who performs the action named by the base word. Here the base is "review," which comes from Old French "reveue," a noun meaning a looking over again, from the verb "revoir," to see again. Reviewing, in other words, began as the simple act of looking at something a second time. The suffix carries its own long history. In English it developed from Old English "-ere," which descends from Latin "-arius," a suffix attached to nouns to denote a person connected with a trade or function. Old French adopted that same ending as "-ier," and English later picked it up in its Middle English form "-er." Because the suffix has been attached to native English words for centuries, speakers can add it to nearly any verb, which is why "reviewer" feels as ordinary as its neighbours.

Synonyms: critics, evaluators, assessors, commentators, analysts