Spectator definitions

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SPECTA'TOR, n. [L. whence]
1. One that looks on; one that sees or beholds; a beholder; as the spectators of the show.
2. One personally present. The spectators were numerous.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind); "the spectators applauded the performance"; "television viewers"; "sky watchers discovered a new star" [syn: spectator, witness, viewer, watcher, looker]
2: a woman's pump with medium heel; usually in contrasting colors for toe and heel [syn: spectator pump, spectator]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Latin, from spectare to watch Date: circa 1586 1. one who looks on or watches 2. a woman's pump usually having contrasting colors with a perforated design at the toe and sometimes heel • spectator adjective • spectatorial adjective • spectatorship noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a person who looks on at a show, game, incident, etc. Phrases and idioms: spectator sport a sport attracting spectators rather than participants. Derivatives: spectatorial adj. Etymology: F spectateur or L spectator f. spectare: see SPECTACLE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spectator Spec*ta"tor, n. [L. spectator: cf. F. spectateur. See Spectacle.] One who on; one who sees or beholds; a beholder; one who is personally present at, and sees, any exhibition; as, the spectators at a show. ``Devised and played to take spectators.''

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(spectators) A spectator is someone who watches something, especially a sporting event. Thirty thousand spectators watched the final game. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Beholder, observer, bystander, looker-on, on-looker, witness.

Moby Thesaurus

accepter, acquirer, addressee, aficionado, attender, attestant, attestator, attester, audience, auditor, auditory, beholder, buff, bystander, claqueur, cojuror, compurgator, congregation, consignee, deadhead, deponent, earwitness, eyewitness, fan, frequenter, gallery, gazer, getter, groundling, habitue, haunter, hearer, hired applauder, holder, house, informant, informer, listener, looker, looker-on, moviegoer, newer, observer, obtainer, onlooker, orchestra, pass holder, passerby, patron, payee, perceiver, pit, playgoer, procurer, receiver, recipient, seer, standee, swearer, taker, testifier, theater, theatergoer, trustee, viewer, visitor, voucher, watcher, witness