Lector

2025-10-29T08:46:06Z

2604:B000:A120:1B0:7C88:FBBA:DDBF:231E:

{{short description|Latin term for one who reads, whether aloud or not}}
{{about|the word|the e-book software|Lector (software)}}
'''Lector''' is [[Latin language|Latin]] for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a [[loanword|loan]], such as {{langx|en|lector}}, {{langx|fr|lecteur}}, {{langx|pl|lektor}} and {{langx|ru|лектор}}. It has various specialized uses.

==Academic==
The title ''lector'' may be applied to [[lecturer]]s and [[reader (academic rank)|readers]] at some universities. There is also the title ''lector jubilate'', which is an equivalent of [[Doctor of Divinity]].

In the teaching of modern languages at universities in the United Kingdom, a native speaker who assists with language skills would be called a lector, and if a female she may be called a lectrice.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cambridge University Library |date=2020-04-29 |title=Glossary: Lector |url=https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/university-archives/glossary/lector |access-date=2024-01-23 |website=Cambridge University Library}}</ref>

In Dutch higher education the title ''lector'' is used for the leader of a research group (''lectoraat'') at a [[university of applied sciences]]. The title is officially translated to ''professor'' in English. The lector has a comparable set of tasks as (higher ranked) full professors at a (research) university, albeit at an applied rather than a fundamental scientific level.

==Ecclesiastical==
{{Main|Reader (liturgy)}}
A religious [[reader (liturgy)|reader]] is sometimes referred to as a ''lector''. The lector proclaims the Scripture readings<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Lector |volume=16 |page=358 |first=Frederick E. |last=Warren}}</ref> used in the Liturgy from the official [[liturgical book]] ([[lectionary]]).

==Television==
In [[Polish language|Polish]], ''lektor'' is also used to mean "off-screen reader" or "voice-over artist". A ''lektor'' is a (usually male) reader who provides the Polish [[voice-over]] on foreign-language programmes and films where the [[voice-over translation]] technique is used. This is the standard [[language localization|localization]] technique on Polish television and (as an option) on many DVDs; full [[dub localization|dubbing]] is generally reserved for children's material.

==Cigar factory lectors==
[[File:A_"Reader"_in_cigar_factory,_Tampa,_Fl.jpg|thumb|288x288px|A lector reader, Tampa January 1909]]
Historically, lectors (known as ''lectores'' in Cuba and Puerto Rico)<ref name="veconomist" >{{cite news|title=The people who read to Cuban cigar-factory workers|url=https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21730245-hearing-count-monte-cristo-while-rolling-montecristos-people-who-read-cuban|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=12 October 2017}}</ref> or readers in a [[Cigar#Manufacture|cigar factory]] entertained workers by reading books or newspapers aloud, often left-wing publications, paid for by unions or by workers pooling their money. In the United States, the custom was common in the cigar factories of [[Ybor City]] in [[Tampa]] but was discontinued after the [[Ybor City cigar makers' strike of 1931]].<ref>[https://worldhistory.us/american-history/el-lector-the-cigar-factory-reader-of-ybor-city.php El Lector, the Cigar Factory Reader of Ybor City]</ref>

The practice apparently originated in Cuba.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124251060|title=The Jobs Of Yesteryear: Obsolete Occupations|publisher=[[National Public Radio]]|access-date=10 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308025337/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124251060|archive-date=2010-03-08|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://www.mainstreet.com/article/career/employment/20-jobs-have-disappeared?page=3 20 Jobs That Have Disappeared] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506194926/http://www.mainstreet.com/article/career/employment/20-jobs-have-disappeared?page=3 |date=2010-05-06 }}, By Miranda Marquit, Main Street, thestreet.com, May 3, 2010.</ref> ''Lectores'' were introduced in 1865 to educate and relieve boredom among cigar workers. ''Lectores'', and their reading material, are chosen by the workers of the cigar factory. ''Lectores'' often take on extra-official roles and formerly acted as "spurs to dissent". {{as of|2017}}, [[UNESCO]] is considering designating the profession a form of "[[intangible cultural heritage]]".<ref name="veconomist" />
The ''[[Montecristo (cigar)|Montecristo]]'' brand of cigars derives its name for the fondness that cigar makers had for listening to ''[[The Count of Monte Cristo]]''.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

==See also==
{{wikt}}
*[[Proctor]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Lutheran Divine Service}}

[[Category:Latin words and phrases]]

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Lector