Etymology From Middle English lector, lectoure, lectour, from Late Latin lēctor, from legō (“to read”). “Voice-over” sense probably adapted from Polish lektor. Doublet of lecture and lecturer.
1
Lifestyle, Religion A lay person who reads aloud certain religious texts in a church service.
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Education A public lecturer or reader at some universities.
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US, Historical A person who reads aloud to workers to entertain them, appointed by a trade union.
Its lyrical, poetic flights seem much more at home in the romantic musings of two sisters competing for the attention of the new, handsome lector, a man hired to read stories to workers in a Florida cigar factory, who might otherwise be mesmerized by the repetitive boredom of their jobs.2004 October 27, D. J. R. Bruckner, “New Inflections and Nuance in a Florida Cigar Factory”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
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Broadcasting, Film, Media, Television A person doing voice-over translation of foreign films, especially in Eastern European countries.
The Hungarian viewer of The Colbert Report wants to experience authentic American comedy, and the lector—like an interpreter performing chuchotage at a high-level meeting of heads of state—serves primarily as a check on the viewer's grasp of the real thing.2011, David Bellos, chapter 12, in Is that a Fish in Your Ear?:
Etymology From Middle English lector, lectoure, lectour, from Late Latin lēctor, from legō (“to read”). “Voice-over” sense probably adapted from Polish lektor. Doublet of lecture and lecturer.
1
To perform service as a lector in a religious context.
2
To do a voice-over translation of a film.
How much of Colbert's political satire can be truly grasped by a Hungarian viewer of a lectored episode is slightly beside the point: something gets through.2011, David Bellos, chapter 12, in Is that a Fish in Your Ear?: