waiter

A1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈweɪtɚ/ UK /ˈweɪtə/ See IPA manual

Freq #4039

Meanings

1

noun
A person, especially a man, whose job is to serve food and drink to customers at their tables in a restaurant.

The waiter brought us the menu.
2

verb
To work as a waiter, serving food in a restaurant.

He waitered in a hotel during the summer.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person, especially a man,... server

Word family

Forms waiters

Derived forms cater-waiterdumbwaiterlandwaitershad-waitertime-waiterwaiteredwaitering

Related forms wait waitress

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

wine waiter
a restaurant employee responsible for serving wine and advising guests about it

Noun + noun

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.

*weǵ- Proto-Indo-European waiter Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# waiter

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈweɪtɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈweɪtə/
**Frequency rank:** 4039

## Meanings
1. A person, especially a man, whose job is to serve food and drink to customers at their tables in a restaurant.
2. To work as a waiter, serving food in a restaurant.

## Examples
- The waiter brought us the menu.
- He waitered in a hotel during the summer.

## Derived Forms
- cater-waiter
- dumbwaiter
- landwaiter
- shad-waiter
- time-waiter
- waitered
- waitering

## Related Forms
- wait
- waitress

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *weǵ-
- Root: waiter

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Waiter is 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. In present-day use, it can mean a person, especially a man, whose job is to serve food and drink to customers at their tables in a restaurant, or to work as a waiter, serving food in a restaurant.

## Topics
- People & Society

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