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