释义 |
docent, a. and n.|ˈdəʊsənt| [ad. L. docēnt-em, pr. pple. of docēre to teach.] A. adj. That teaches or instructs; teaching.
1639Laud Agst. Fisher §33 (L.) The church here is taken..as it is docent and regent. 1845R. W. Hamilton Pop. Educ. ix. (ed. 2) 231 Special reasons may be found against the docent authority and right of any Established Church. B. n. In some American universities and colleges, a recognized teacher or lecturer not on the salaried staff; usually a post-graduate student who is allowed to lecture in some special branch. [Cf. Ger. privat-docent, private teacher, recognized by a university.]
1880Nation (N.Y.) XXX. 347 The young docents, whose specialty is Semitic philology. 1890Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 13 Sept. 4/1 Docent in Psychology at Clark University, Worcester. 1893Register Chicago Univ., Docent in Spanish, Docent in Chemistry, Docent in Biblical Literature, [etc.].
Add:[B.] 2. One employed to instruct visitors about exhibits at a museum, art gallery, etc., esp. as a guide at historical homes and reconstructions. orig. and chiefly U.S.
1906Bull. Mus. Fine Arts (Boston) June 19/1 Through these docents, as it has been proposed to call them, the heads of departments could instruct many more persons than it would be possible for them to accompany through the galleries. 1914L. Connolly Educ. Value of Museums 29 When a docent tells you what you see, you do not wholly see, you partly hear. 1940Museum News 1 May 11/1 Many kinds of jobs are being carried on..by volunteers, including docent work with school children. 1978J. Wambaugh Black Marble ii. 13 Active with Madeline in the Junior Philharmonic and the Huntington Library Docents. 1984N.Z. Herald 17 Nov. i. 6/1 There is nothing indecent about docent... One critic of the name—chosen for the guides at the Auckland City Art Gallery and at the Museum of Transport and Technology—says it is ugly, un-English, unfamiliar and harsh-sounding. |