usher
Syllables: ush·er/ˈʌʃəɹ/UK[ˈʌʃ.ə(ɹ)]
usher noun: a person, in a church, cinema etc., who escorts people to their seats.
Noun
usher (plural ushers)
- A person, in a church, cinema etc., who escorts people to their seats.
- A male escort at a wedding.
- A doorkeeper in a courtroom.
- An assistant to a head teacher or schoolteacher; an assistant teacher.
- [H]e defrayed the expence of his entrance, and left him in the particular care and inspection of the usher, who […] though obliged by the scandalous administration of fortune to act in the character of an inferior teacher, had by his sole capacity and application, brought the school to that degree...1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC
- He began to learn Latin with Mr. Hawkins, usher, or under-master of Lichfield school, ‘a man (said he) very skilful in his little way.’1791, James Boswell, “(please specify the year)”, in James Boswell, editor, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. […], London: […] Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, […], →OCLC
- Any schoolteacher.
Verb
usher (third-person singular simple present ushers, present participle ushering, simple past and past participle ushered)
- To guide people to their seats.
- Her entrance into church on Sunday is always the signal for a little bustle in the side aisle, occasioned by a general rise among the poor people, who bow and curtsey until the pew-opener has ushered the old lady into her accustomed seat, dropped a respectful curtsey, and shut the door;1836, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Macrone, […], →OCLC...
- Needless to say, one's seat must be booked in advance and a platoon of urbane officials, one to each door of the train, awaits passengers to usher them to their seats and relieve them of their bulkier baggage.1960 March, G. Freeman Allen, “Europe's most luxurious express - the "Settebello"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 140
- To accompany or escort (someone).
- [N]ay he can ſing / A meane moſt meanely, and in huſhering, / Mende him who can[.]c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby...
- Hee brought-in likewiſe the ancient cuſtome againe, that in what moneth hee had not the Knitches of rods with Axes borne before him, a publique Officer called Accensvs ſhould huiſher him before, and the Serjeants or Lictours follow after behinde.1606, Caius [i.e., Gaius] Suetonius Tranquillus, “The Historie of Caius Iulius Cesar Dictator”, in Philêmon Holland, transl., The Historie of Twelve Cæsars Emperours of Rome. […], London: […]...
- To precede; to act as a forerunner or herald.
- Thus the Harvard poets and wits ushered The New England Courant out of existence.1912, Elizabeth Christine Cook, Literary Influences in Colonial Newspapers, 1704-1750, page 31
- To lead or guide somewhere.
- McCoist unexpectedly ushered back a defender of his own with Kirk Broadfoot taking over from Steven Whittaker. There was, of course, another change, Kyle Bartley stepping in at centre-half to replace suspended Dorin Goian.2011 December 29, Keith Jackson, “SPL: Celtic 1 Rangers 0”, in Daily Record
Proper noun capitalized: Usher
Usher (countable and uncountable, plural Ushers)
- A surname originating as an occupation for an usher.
- A suburb of Bunbury, Western Australia.
usher meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
usher in Hindi
- अशर
usher in Tamil
- அமர்த்துனர், இடங்காட்டி, கட்டியர், தெரிவிப்பாளர், வாயிலர், ஏவலர்
usher in Urdu
- نقیب
usher in Bengali
- অশার
More languagesFewer languages
- usher in Telugu
- అషర్
- usher in Malayalam
- സദസ്യരെ ഇരിപ്പിടം കാട്ടി ഇരുത്തുന്നവൻ, കീഴ്വേലക്കാരൻ, വാതിൽ കാക്കുന്നവൻ
- usher in Kannada
- ಕಂಬಿಗ, ಬರಮಾಡುಗ, ಪ್ರವೇಶಿಸಲು ಮಾರ್ಗ ತೋರಿಸುವ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ, ಪೀಠ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕ
- usher in Gujarati
- અશર
- usher in Odia
- ଅଶର୍
Examples of usher in a sentence
- You can make a good usher that sees to my guests as they arrive.
- It ushered in a whole new era.
- She ushered us into her spacious bayfront office.
Synonyms of usher
Forms of usher
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | ushers |
| alternative form | huisher |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | ushers |
| present participle | ushering |
| past participle | ushered |
| past | ushered |
| alternative form | husher |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Ushers |
Origin of usher
From Middle English ussher, uscher, usscher, from Anglo-Norman usser and Old French ussier, uissier (“porter, doorman”) (compare French huissier), from Vulgar Latin *ustiārius (“doorkeeper”), from Latin ōstiārius, from ōstium (“door”). Akin to ōs (“mouth”). Probably a doublet of ostiary and huissier.
Words formed from usher
Phrases with usher
Words that rhyme with usher
Questions about usher
- What does usher mean?
- Usher means a person, in a church, cinema etc., who escorts people to their seats.
- What is usher in Hindi?
- Usher in Hindi is अशर. See Usher meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is usher?
- Usher can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce usher?
- Usher is pronounced /ˈʌʃəɹ/.
- What is the plural of usher?
- The plural of usher is ushers.
Words near usher in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: usher (page history and authors); Usher (page history and authors); usher (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); usher (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); usher (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); usher (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); usher (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); usher (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); usher (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); usher (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); usher (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-usher.ogg, en-au-usher.ogg.
Cite this entry: “usher.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/usher. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.