Meanings
plural rhetoricians · alternative rhetoritian
- An expert or student of rhetoric.
Themistocles was a rhetorician.
2 more examples
As I showed, although some rhetoricians, such as Mesmer and Erb, claimed that their interventions were medical treatments, others, such as Freud and Jung, claimed that their interventions were both medical curings and spiritual carings.
1988, Thomas Stephen Szasz, The Myth of Psychotherapy, page 183In his classicising Troilus and Criseyde, set with pagan aplomb in ancient Troy, he approvingly quotes the rhetorician Geoffrey of Vinsauf’s New Poetics.
2012, Barbara Newman, “Ailments of the Tongue”, in London Review of Books, volume 34, number 6 - An orator or eloquent public speaker.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna person who delivers a speech or oration
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchretoricien
- Middle Englishrethoricien
- Englishrhetorician
From Middle English rethoricien, from Old French retoricien; equivalent to rhetoric + -ian.
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ῥήτωρ, ῥήτωρ
- ῥήτωρ (rhḗtōr)expert or student of rhetoric
- ῥήτωρ (rhḗtōr)orator or eloquent public speaker
Greek ρήτορας
- ρήτορας (rítoras)orator or eloquent public speaker
Latin hrethor, rhetor
- hrethorexpert or student of rhetoric
- rhetorexpert or student of rhetoric
Russian ритор, ритор
- ритор (ritor)expert or student of rhetoric
- ритор (ritor)orator or eloquent public speaker
Cite this entry
rhetorician. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhetorician
“rhetorician.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhetorician. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rhetorician,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhetorician.
Source: rhetorician on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.