Standard Lemma guide

tourism

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtʊəɹɪzəm/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɔːɹɪzəm/
  • British, Southern, Standard: /ˈtoːɹɪzəm/
  • British, Southern, Standard: /ˈtɵːɹɪzəm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈtʊɹɪzəm/
  • US: /ˈtɝ.ɪszəm/
  • US: /ˈtɔɹɪst/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Scotland: /ˈtʉɾɪszəm/
  • Scotland: [ˈtʉːɾɪszəm]
  • CMU ARPABET: T UH1 R IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of travelling or sightseeing, particularly away from one's home.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • Mass tourism damaged the beach.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The industry in which such travels and sightseeing are organized.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • Tourism brings a lot of tax revenue to the area.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The act of visiting another region or jurisdiction for a particular purpose.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, uncountable, usually

Examples

  • libel tourism; suicide tourism; sex tourism

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the business of providing services to tourists

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Tourism is a major business in Bermuda

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: touristry

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: commercial enterprise, business enterprise, business

Narrower terms: ecotourism

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *terh1- Proto-Indo-European *-nos Proto-Indo-European *tórh1nos Proto-Hellenic *tórnos Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos)bor. Latin tornus Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh2yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h2tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin tornō Old French torner Old French tourder. English tour Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English tourism From tour + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

142 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: toerisme — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Albanian: turizm — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Arabic: سِيَّاحَة (siyyāḥa) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Arabic: سياحة (seyāḥa) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Aragonese: torismo — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Armenian: տուրիզմ (turizm) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Armenian: զբոսաշրջություն (zbosašrǰutʻyun) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Assamese: পৰ্যটন (porzoton) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Asturian: turismu — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Azerbaijani: turizm — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Azerbaijani: səyahət — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Basque: turismo — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Belarusian: туры́зм (turýzm) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Bengali: পর্যটন (porjoṭon) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Bulgarian: тури́зъм (turízǎm) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Carpathian Rusyn: тури́стика (turýstyka) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Catalan: turisme — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Chinese Cantonese: 旅遊 /旅游 (leoi5 jau4) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Chinese Cantonese: 游覽 /游览 (jau4 laam5) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Chinese Cantonese: 旅行 — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Chinese Cantonese: 觀光 /观光 (gun1 gwong1) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 旅遊 /旅游 (lǚyóu) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 游覽 /游览 (yóulǎn) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 旅行 (lǚxíng) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 觀光 /观光 (guānguāng) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Czech: turistika — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Czech: turismus — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Danish: turisme — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Dutch: toerisme — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Esperanto: turismo — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Estonian: turism — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Finnish: matkailu — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Finnish: turismi — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • French: tourisme — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Galician: turismo — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Georgian: ტურიზმი (ṭurizmi) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • German: Tourismus — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Greek: τουρισμός (tourismós) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Hebrew: תַּיָּרוּת — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Hebrew: תיירות (tayarút) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Hindi: पर्यटन (paryaṭan) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Hindi: देशाटन (deśāṭan) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Hindi: टूरिज़्म (ṭūrizma) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Hindi: सियाहत (siyāhat) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Hungarian: turizmus — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Icelandic: ferðamennska — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Ido: turismo — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Indonesian: pariwisata — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Irish: turasóireacht — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Italian: turismo — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Japanese: 観光 (kankō) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Japanese: 旅行 (ryokō) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Kazakh: туризм (turizm) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Kazakh: саяхат (saäxat) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Khmer: ទេសចរណ៍ (teihsaʼcɑɑ) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Korean: 관광 (gwan'gwang) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Northern Kurdish: geştûguzarî — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Northern Kurdish: turîzm — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Kyrgyz: туризм (turizm) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Kyrgyz: саякат (sayakat) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Lao: ການທ່ອງທ່ຽວ (kān thǭng thiāu) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Latvian: tūrisms — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Lithuanian: turizmas — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Luxembourgish: Tourismus — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Macedonian: тури́зам (turízam) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Malay: pelancongan — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Malayalam: വിനോദസഞ്ചാരം (vinōdasañcāraṁ) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Malayalam: ടൂറിസം (ṭūṟisaṁ) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Marathi: पर्यटन (paryaṭan) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Mongolian: жуулчлал (žuulčlal) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Norwegian: turisme — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Norwegian Bokmål: turisme — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: turisme — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Occitan: torisme — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Pashto: سياحت (sayāhat) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Pashto: ټوريزم (ṭorizǝm) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Iranian Persian: گَرْدِشْگَری (gardešgari) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Iranian Persian: جَهانْگَرْدی (jahângardi) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Iranian Persian: سِیاحَت (siyâhat) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Polish: turystyka — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Portuguese: turismo — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Romanian: turism — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Russian: тури́зм (turízm) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Sanskrit: पर्यटन (paryaṭana) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Sanskrit: पर्यटनम् (paryaṭanam) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Sardinian: turismu — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Scots: tourism — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Serbo-Croatian: турѝзам — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Serbo-Croatian: turìzam — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Sinhalese: සංචාරක (saṁcāraka) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Slovak: turistika — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Slovak: turizmus — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Slovene: turizem — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Spanish: turismo — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Swedish: turism — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Tagalog: turismo — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Tajik: ҷаҳонгардӣ (jahongardi) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Tajik: саёҳат (sayohat) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Tajik: сайёҳат (sayyohat) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Tajik: туризм (turizm) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Thai: การท่องเที่ยว (gaan-tɔ̂ng-tîao) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Turkish: turizm — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Turkish: seyahat — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Turkmen: syýahatçylyk — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Turkmen: turizm — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Turkmen: syýahat — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Ukrainian: тури́зм (turýzm) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Urdu: سِیاحَت (siyāhat) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Urdu: ٹُورِزْم (ṭūrizm) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Uyghur: ساياھەچىلىك (sayahechilik) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Uyghur: ساياھەت (sayahet) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Uzbek: turizm — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Uzbek: sayohat — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Vietnamese: sự du lịch — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Vietnamese: du lịch — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Vietnamese: lữ hành — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Yiddish: טוריזם (turizm) — the act of travelling or sightseeing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 旅遊業 /旅游业 (lǚyóuyè) — industry
  • Finnish: matkailu — industry
  • German: Tourismusindustrie — industry
  • German: Tourismusbranche — industry
  • Hindi: पर्यटन (paryaṭan) — industry
  • Icelandic: ferðaþjónusta — industry
  • Indonesian: pariwisata — industry
  • Indonesian: kepariwisataan — industry
  • Indonesian: turisme — industry
  • Irish: turasóireacht — industry
  • Malay: pelancongan — industry
  • Russian: тури́зм (turízm) — industry
  • Basque: turismo — collectively, the tourists visiting a place or landmark
  • Finnish: turismi — collectively, the tourists visiting a place or landmark
  • Finnish: turistit — collectively, the tourists visiting a place or landmark
  • German: Fremdenverkehr — collectively, the tourists visiting a place or landmark
  • German: Reiseverkehr — collectively, the tourists visiting a place or landmark
  • Italian: turismo — collectively, the tourists visiting a place or landmark
  • Spanish: turismo — collectively, the tourists visiting a place or landmark
  • Chinese Mandarin: 旅遊 /旅游 (lǚyóu) — act of visiting for a purpose
  • Chinese Mandarin: 游覽 /游览 (yóulǎn) — act of visiting for a purpose
  • Chinese Mandarin: 旅行 (lǚxíng) — act of visiting for a purpose
  • Chinese Mandarin: 觀光 /观光 (guānguāng) — act of visiting for a purpose
  • Finnish: turismi — act of visiting for a purpose
  • German: -tourismus — act of visiting for a purpose
Real reading context

tourism in complete knowledge articles