Origin: Greek suffix -ist
Journalist has 3 different meanings across 1 category:
a writer for newspapers and magazines
"The journalist spent her morning interviewing sources before heading to the office to write an article for the local newspaper."
someone who keeps a diary or journal
"After retiring from his career as a news reporter, he returned to writing daily entries in his personal journal."
The keeper of a personal journal, who writes in it regularly.
"After retiring from his newspaper career, he became a journalist once again, simply keeping a private diary to record his daily thoughts."
In plain English: A journalist is someone who gathers news and writes stories for newspapers, websites, or TV shows to tell people what's happening around them.
"The journalist interviewed several witnesses before writing her article."
Usage: While often used interchangeably with reporter or news correspondent, journalist specifically refers to someone whose primary duty is maintaining and updating their own daily record rather than gathering external information for publication. Use this term when emphasizing the act of regular self-documentation instead of professional newsgathering.
The word journalist comes from combining the French word jour, meaning day, with the suffix -ist to denote a person who writes daily records or news. It entered English as a compound term describing someone whose work is centered on daily reporting.