docent

English

Etymology

From Latin docēns, present participle of doceō (“to teach”). In the meaning of a university grade, as used in some Central European countries, it is clipped version of private docent, privat-docent, from German Privatdozent, from German Dozent.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdəʊ.sənt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdoʊ.sənt/

Adjective

docent (comparative more docent, superlative most docent)

1. Instructive; that teaches.

Noun

docent (plural docents)

1. A teacher or lecturer at some universities (in central Europe, etc.)
   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 1212:

     Zermelo had been a docent at Göttingen when Kit was there and, like Russell, had been preoccupied with the set of all sets that are not members of themselves.

2. (chiefly US) A tour guide at a museum, art gallery, historical site, etc.

   The docent greeted the visitors and welcomed them to the Smithsonian.

   • 2020, Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half, Dialogue Books, page 149:

     She was listening distractedly as an elderly docent intoned to a circle of listless children.

Related terms

• docile
• doctor
• doctorate
• doctrinaire
• doctrinal
• doctrine
• document
• indoctrinate

Translations

teacher or lecturer in university

• Armenian: դոցենտ (hy) (docʻent)
• Catalan: docent (ca) m or f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 講師 / 讲师 (zh) (jiǎngshī)

• Danish: docent c
• Dutch: docent (nl) m
• Finnish: dosentti (fi)
• German: Dozent (de) m, Dozentin (de) f
• Hungarian: docens (hu)
• Icelandic: dósent (is) m
• Indonesian: dosen (id)
• Japanese: 講師 (ja) (kōshi)
• Muna: dose
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dosent m

  Nynorsk: dosent m

• Spanish: docente (es)
• Swedish: docent (sv) c, föreläsare (sv) c
• Yiddish: דאָצענט (dotsent)

tour guide

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 講解員 / 讲解员 (zh) (jiǎngjiěyuán)

• Danish: omviser c
• Finnish: opas (fi)
• Hungarian: idegenvezető (hu), tárlatvezető (hu)
• Japanese: ガイド (ja) (gaido)
• Swedish: föreläsare (sv) c, talare (sv) c, museiguide c

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin docentem.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

docent m or f (masculine and feminine plural docents)

1. teaching

Noun

docent m or f by sense (plural docents)

1. lecturer

Derived terms

• docència

Further reading

• “docent”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “docent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “docent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “docent”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin docentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈdot͡sɛnt]

Noun

docent m anim (female equivalent docentka, diminutive docentík or docentíček)

1. lecturer

Declension

Declension of docent (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	docent	docenti
genitive	docenta	docentů
dative	docentovi, docentu	docentům
accusative	docenta	docenty
vocative	docente	docenti
locative	docentovi, docentu	docentech
instrumental	docentem	docenty

Related terms

Related terms

• docentura
• doktor
• doktorand
• doktorant
• doktorát
• doktrína
• doktrinář
• dokument
• dokumentace
• dokumentární
• dokumentarista
• dokumentaristický
• dokumentaristika
• dokumentovat
• indoktrinace
• indoktrinovat

Further reading

• “docent”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “docent”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “docent”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Danish

Noun

docent c (singular definite docenten, plural indefinite docenter)

1. reader

Declension

Declension of docent

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	docent	docenten	docenter	docenterne
genitive	docents	docentens	docenters	docenternes

Dutch

Etymology

From Latin docēns, present participle of doceō (“to teach”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /doːˈsɛnt/, (Netherlands) [doʊ̯ˈsɛnt], (Belgium) [doːˈsɛnt]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: do‧cent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun

docent m (plural docenten, diminutive docentje n, feminine docente)

1. teacher, docent

   Synonyms: leraar, leerkracht, onderwijzer

Synonyms

• leraar
• leerkracht
• onderwijzer

Derived terms

• gymdocent
• theaterdocent
• toneeldocent

Descendants

• Afrikaans: dosent
• → Indonesian: dosen

Latin

Verb

docent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of doceō

Polish

Etymology

From Latin docēns, likely through German Dozent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɔ.t͡sɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔt͡sɛnt
• Syllabification: do‧cent

Noun

docent m pers

1. docent, lecturer (teacher at a university)

Declension

Declension of docent

	singular	plural
nominative	docent	docenci
genitive	docenta	docentów
dative	docentowi	docentom
accusative	docenta	docentów
instrumental	docentem	docentami
locative	docencie	docentach
vocative	docencie	docenci

Derived terms

• docentura

Further reading

• “docent”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[1] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “docent”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Dozent.

Noun

docent m (plural docenți)

1. lecturer

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	docent	docentul	docenți	docenții
genitive-dative	docent	docentului	docenți	docenților
vocative	docentule		docenților

Swedish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

docent c

1. a docent, a university teacher who holds a PhD degree, an associate professor

Declension

Declension of docent

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	docent	docents
	definite	docenten	docentens
plural	indefinite	docenter	docenters
	definite	docenterna	docenternas

References

• “docent”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “docent”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “docent”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)