Lector isLatin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or aloan, such as English:lector,French:lecteur,Polish:lektor andRussian:лектор. It has various specialized uses.
The titlelector may be applied tolecturers andreaders at some universities. There is also the titlelector jubilate, which is an equivalent ofDoctor 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.[1]
In Dutch higher education the titlelector is used for the leader of a research group (lectoraat) at auniversity of applied sciences. The title is officially translated toprofessor 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.
A religiousreader is sometimes referred to as alector. The lector proclaims the Scripture readings[2] used in the Liturgy from the officialliturgical book (lectionary).
InPolish,lektor is also used to mean "off-screen reader" or "voice-over artist". Alektor is a (usually male) reader who provides the Polishvoice-over on foreign-language programmes and films where thevoice-over translation technique is used. This is the standardlocalization technique on Polish television and (as an option) on many DVDs; fulldubbing is generally reserved for children's material.
Historically, lectors (known aslectores in Cuba)[3] or readers in acigar 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 ofYbor City inTampa but was discontinued after theYbor City cigar makers' strike of 1931.[4]
The practice apparently originated in Cuba.[5][6]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[update],UNESCO is considering designating the profession a form of "intangible cultural heritage".[3]TheMontecristo brand of cigars derives its name for the fondness that cigar makers had for listening toThe Count of Monte Cristo.
