attender

Attender is a noun describing a person who attends a place, event, or service. It is a less common equivalent of attendee; while attendee is the standard term in modern English, attender appears in some formal, historical, or specialized contexts. The word can also refer to someone who attends to a task or a person, though this usage is rarer and often replaced by attendant or caregiver.

Etymology and relation to similar terms: Attender is formed from the verb attend with the agent suffix -er, following a common pattern in English. It is related to but distinct from attendant, which denotes someone who waits on or serves others, and from attendee, the more common word for a participant at an event.

Usage: In event management and formal documentation, attendees is the common term, but attender may appear in older texts or in contexts where a distinction is drawn between being present (attender) and the act of being served (attendant). In educational, religious, or professional settings, an attender is a person who is present or participates. In contemporary branding or software naming, Attender may be used as a product or service name to imply attendance-tracking or participation features, though this usage is not standardized.

See also: Attendee, Attendance, Attendant.