a person who participates in a formal discussion or symposium and is responsible for a specific topic
Word origin
[1925–30, Amer.; discuss + -ant]This word is first recorded in the period 1925–30. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: Nazi, chain reaction, gimmick, recycle, turnaround-ant is a suffix forming adjectives and nouns from verbs, occurring originally in Frenchand Latin loanwords (pleasant; constant; servant) and productive in English on this model; -ant has the general sense “characterized by or serving in the capacity of” that namedby the stem (ascendant; pretendant), esp. in the formation of nouns denoting human agents in legal actions or otherformal procedures (tenant; defendant; applicant; contestant). In technical and commercial coinages, -ant is a suffix of nouns denoting impersonal physical agents (propellant; lubricant; deodorant). In general, -ant can be added only to bases of Latin origin, with a very few exceptions, as coolant