usher

■ noun

1 a person who shows people to their seats in a cinema or theatre or at a wedding.

2 Brit. a person employed to walk before a person of high rank on special occasions.

3 an official in a law court who swears in jurors and witnesses and keeps order.

4 archaic an assistant teacher.

■ verb

1 show or guide somewhere.

2 (usher something in) cause or mark the start of something new.

—ORIGIN Middle English (denoting a doorkeeper): from Anglo-Norman French usser, from medieval Latin ustiarius, from Latin ostiarius, from ostium ‘door’.

usherette

■ noun a woman who shows people to their seats in a cinema or theatre.

an identifying mark