realtor

English

Etymology

From real (in real estate) and -or. Coined by Charles N. Chadbourn in 1916, on the model of Latin agent nouns ending in -tor (such as actor, creator), to refer to real-estate professionals who are members of the National Association of Realtors, a trade association in the United States. Equivalent to realt(y) +‎ -or.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɹi(ə)l.təɹ/, /ˈɹi(ə)l.tɔɹ/, [ˈɹilə.tɚ]

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

realtor (plural realtors)

1. (Canada, US) A person or business that sells or leases out real estate, acting as an agent for the property owner.
   • 1919, Mr. Shannon, U.S. Housing Corporation. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, United States Senate:

     It was composed of an engineer, if I remember correctly, a town planner, a realtor, and occasionally an architect […]

   • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC:

     First place, we ought to insist that folks call us ‘realtors’ and not ‘real-estate men.’ Sounds more like a reg’lar profession.

   • 1975, Jerzy Kosiński, Cockpit, Grove Press, published 1998, page 189:

     Intrigued by the prospect of an additional commission, the realtor hurriedly assured me he foresaw no problem in obtaining the lease.

   • 1997, Douglas A. Gray, Canadian home buying made easy, second edition, page 72:

     The terms agent, broker, and realtor are often used interchangeably.

   • 2003, Gary Andrew Dresden, Confessions of a Gynecologist, iUniverse, page 111:

     The realtor was like a carnivore, ready to spring. He was originally from New York and he seemed like the kind of guy who could smell a deal.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:realtor.

Synonyms

• estate agent (British)
• real estate agent

Translations

dealer in real estate

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: посредник (bg) m (posrednik), посредничка f (posrednička)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 房地產經紀人／房地产经纪人 (fángdìchǎn jīngjìrén)

• Danish: ejendomsmægler (da) c
• Finnish: kiinteistönvälittäjä (fi)
• French: agent immobilier (fr) m, agente immobilière (fr) f
• German: Immobilienmakler (de) m, Immobilienmaklerin (de) f, Makler (de) m, Maklerin (de) f, Immobilienhändler (de) m, Immobilienhändlerin (de) f, Grundstücksmakler m, Grundstücksmaklerin f, Häusermakler m, Häusermaklerin f, Hausmakler m, Hausmaklerin f
• Greek: κτηματομεσίτης (el) m (ktimatomesítis), κτηματομεσίτρια f (ktimatomesítria)
• Hungarian: ingatlanügynök (hu)
• Italian: agente immobiliare (it) m or f, immobiliarista (it) m or f
• Japanese: 不動産屋 (ふどうさんや, fudōsan'ya)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: praediātor m, praediātrīx f
• Macedonian: аге́нт за недвижности m (agént za nedvižnosti), аге́нт за недвижнини m (agént za nedvižnini)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: eiendomsmegler m, eiendomsmekler m

  Nynorsk: eigedomsmeklar m

• Portuguese: corretor (pt) m, corretora f
• Romanian: agent imobiliar m, agentă imobiliară f
• Russian: аге́нт по прода́же недви́жимости m (agént po prodáže nedvížimosti), рие́лтор (ru) m (rijéltor)
• Spanish: agente inmobiliario (es) m, agente inmobiliaria f, fideicomisario m, fideicomisaria f, bróker (es) m
• Swedish: fastighetsmäklare (sv) c, mäklare (sv) c
• Turkish: emlakçı (tr)
• Ukrainian: ріє́лтор m (rijéltor), ріє́лторка f (rijéltorka)
• Vietnamese: địa ốc viên, chuyên viên địa ốc, chuyên viên bất động sản

Further reading

• Jacob Zimmerman v. Nat'l Ass'n of Realtors, Cancellation Nos. 92032360, 92040141, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (March 31, 2004), discussing the claim that "realtor" is a generic term, and including 10 dictionary definitions of the term (pp. 17-19).

Anagrams

• Treloar, relator