bystander

• bye-stander, by-stander (obsolete)

From by- +‎ stander. Compare passerby.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪˌstænd.ə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

bystander (plural bystanders)

1. A person who, although present at some event, does not take part in it; an observer, witness, or spectator.

   Synonym: onlooker

   • 1867, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, chapter II, in The Gambler, translated by C. J. Hogarth‎^[1]:

     If he wins, he will be at liberty, perhaps, to give vent to a laugh, or to pass a remark on the circumstance to a bystander, or to stake again, or to double his stake; but, even this he must do solely out of curiosity, and for the pleasure of watching the play of chances and of calculations, and not because of any vulgar desire to win.

• rubberneck
• upstander

• stander by, stander-by