Dictionary

gatekeeper en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈɡeɪtˌkiː.pə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio
• (Southern-England) audio
• (US) audio
• /ˈɡeɪtˌki.pəɹ/ (General-American)

Etymology

From gate + keeper.

Meanings

1. A person who guards or monitors passage through a gate.
   • […]“Here,” he said, stepping forward and handing twopence to the gatekeeper; “let the young woman pass.” 1874, Thomas Hardy, chapter 1, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 9:
   • At each station is a level crossing, in addition to others away from stations, and, as both the road and rail traffic are heavy, the gatekeepers (mostly signalmen) are quite busy and have acquired well-merited mention for reducing delays to road traffic to a minimum. 1946 January and February, G. A. Sekon, “The L.B.S.C.R. West Coast Section”, in Railway Magazine, page 15:
2. (figuratively) A person or group who controls access to something or somebody.
   • The sources the citations are drawn from are significant, being printed books or newspapers subject to editorial processes and gatekeepers of language standards, as opposed to unedited texts such as blogs, chatroom logs or student writing. 2012, James Lambert, “Beyond Hobson-Jobson: A new lexicography for Indian English”, in World Englishes, page 302:
3. A common orange and brown butterfly with eyespots, Pyronia tithonus, of the family Nymphalidae.
4. In dissociative identity disorder, an aspect of the personality that controls access to the various identities.
5. One who gatekeeps.
6. A provider of core platform services with specific characteristics (Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council)

Forms

Deriveds

gatekeepery · gatekeepership · gatekeeperism

Relateds

gatekeep

Translations (52)

de Torwächterin (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · cs vrátný (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · ka მეკარე (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · pt porteira (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · bg портиер (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · fr gardienne (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · nl poortwachter (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · ca portera (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · got 𐌳𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌰𐍂𐌳𐍃 (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · txb yenmeᵤ (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · gl porteiro (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · it portinaio (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · id penggerbang (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · kmr dergevan (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · it custode (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · fi porttivahti (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · it portiera (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · fa قاپوچی (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · alt эжикчи (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · nl portier (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · de Torwächter (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · es portero (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · ga geatóir (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · sq derës (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · ca porter (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · it portiere (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · ro portăreasă (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · es portera (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · id penjaga pintu (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · grc πυλωρός (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · fr gardien (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · el πυλωρός (provider of platform services with specific characteristics) · nl poortwachtster (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · pt porteiro (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · it portinaia (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · no portvakt (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · pl portier (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · rup purtar (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · tl bantay-pinto (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · ro portar (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · fi portinvartija (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · de Torwächterinnen (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · got 𐌳𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌰 (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · fa دربان (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · sw bawabu (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · it guardiano (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · pl portierka (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · de Torwächter (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · it guardiana (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · ka კარისმცველი (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · cs vrátná (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate) · sv portvakt (person who guards or monitors passage through a gate)