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Origin and history of janitorial

janitorial(adj.)

1869, from janitor + -ial.

also from 1869

Entries linking to janitorial

janitor(n.)

1580s, "an usher in a school," later "doorkeeper" (1620s), from Latin ianitor "doorkeeper, porter," from ianua "door, entrance, gate," from ianus "arched passageway, arcade" (see Janus) + agent suffix -tor.

The meaning "caretaker of a building, man employed to see that rooms are kept clean and in order" is recorded by 1708. Fem. forms were janitress (1806), janitrix (1818). In Horace, Cerberus is ianitor of Hell.

-ial

adjectival word-forming element, variant of -al (1) with connective -i-. From Latin -ialis, in which the -i- originally was from the stem of the word being attached but later came to be felt as connective.

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