rapporteur

noun rap·por·teur \ ˌra-ˌpȯr-ˈtər \

Updated on: 27 Mar 2018

Definition of rapporteur

: a person who gives reports (as at a meeting of a learned society)

See rapporteur defined for English-language learners

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Examples of rapporteur in a Sentence

He was selected to be the UN's rapporteur on nuclear energy.

Recent Examples of rapporteur from the Web

She had been appointed rapporteur for a special commission to monitor the federal intervention.

— joe sterling and bijan hosseini, CNN, "Brazilians mourn slain politician and demand justice for her death," 16 Mar. 2018
Last month, Franco was named rapporteur of a special commission that was to serve as a watchdog over a controversial federal intervention in Rio's public security.

— jill langlois, latimes.com, "Outspoken Rio councilwoman who fought for the marginalized is shot to death; thousands mourn," 15 Mar. 2018
Jehangir also served as president of the Supreme Court’s Bar Association and was a U.N. rapporteur on human right and extrajudicial killings.

— Time, "Asma Jehangir, Leading Pakistani Rights Activist, Dies at 66," 11 Feb. 2018
The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, and the United Nations special rapporteur on arbitrary executions, along with other United Nations experts, also raised concerns.

— elisabeth malkin, New York Times, "Mexico Strengthens Military’s Role in Drug War, Outraging Critics," 15 Dec. 2017
Nils Melzer, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, on Wednesday urged the United States to end its torture of detainees held at the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

— lewis sanders iv, USA TODAY, "U.S. torture continues at Guantanamo Bay, U.N. expert warns," 13 Dec. 2017
Alston was appointed by the U.N. human rights council as the special rapporteur on extreme poverty to investigate the plight of the most vulnerable people in the economic doldrums of the richest nation in the world.

— gale holland, latimes.com, "U.N. monitor on extreme poverty tours skid row in L.A.," 11 Dec. 2017
The special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Quintana, says he was discouraged from visiting Rakhine state by the head of the mission, Renata Lok-Dessallien.

— The Economist, "Peacekeepers in name only," 26 Oct. 2017
Qatar's human rights committee had previously filed a complaint with the U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of belief and religion over restrictions placed on its nationals who wanted to attend the hajj this year.

— Bloomberg.com, "Hajj Pilgrimage Entangled in Web of Saudi Politics," 29 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rapporteur.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Rapporteur was adopted into English in the early 16th century and is a descendant of the Middle French verb rapporter, meaning "to bring back, report, or refer." Other descendants of "rapporter" in English include "rapportage" (a rare synonym of "reportage," in the sense of "writing intended to give an account of observed or documented events") and "rapport" ("harmonious relationship"). The words "report," "reporter," "reportage," etc., are also distant relatives of "rappouteur"; all can ultimately be traced back to the Latin prefix re-, meaning "back, again, against," and the Latin word portare, meaning "to carry."