English Explanatory Dictionary

waiter

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A male or female attendant who serves customers at their tables in a restaurant, café or similar.
  2. Someone who waits for somebody or something; a person who is waiting.
  3. A person working as an attendant at the London Stock Exchange.
  4. A vessel or tray on which something is carried, as dishes, etc.; a salver. (See etymology of dumbwaiter.)
  5. A custom house officer; a tide waiter.
  6. A watchman.
verb
  1. To work as a waiter.

Pronunciation

/ˈweɪ̯təː/ [ˈweɪ̯tʰəː] /ˈwæɪ̯təː/ [ˈwæ̝ɪ̯tʰəː] ~ [ˈwæ̝ɪ̯tʰɐ̝ː] /ˈwæɪ̯ɾəː/ [ˈwæ̝ɪ̯ɾəː] ~ [ˈwæ̝ɪ̯ɾɐ̝ː] /ˈweɪ̯tɚ/ [ˈweɪ̯tʰɚ] ~ [ˈweɪ̯tʰɹ̩] /ˈweɪ̯ɾɚ/ [ˈweɪ̯ɾɚ] ~ [ˈweɪ̯ɾɹ̩] en-us-waiter.ogg

Word forms

waiter waiters waitering waitered

Etymology

From late 14th century Middle English waiter, wayter (“attendant, watchman”). By surface analysis, wait + -er. Sense of "servant who waits at tables" is from late 15th century, originally in reference to household servants; in reference to inns, eating houses, etc., it is attested from 1660s. Feminine form waitress first recorded 1834. The London Stock Exchange sense harks back to the early days of trading in coffee-shops.

Related words

wait waitress barista bartender maître d' server

Derived words

cater-waiter coast waiter drinks waiter dumbwaiter landing waiter landwaiter quarter waiter shad-waiter tide waiter time-waiter waitered waitering wine waiter
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on W Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary