entrepreneur
[ahn-truh-pruh-nur, -noo r; French ahn-truh-pruh-nœr]
- a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.
- an employer of productive labor; contractor.
- to deal with or initiate as an entrepreneur.
- to act as an entrepreneur.
Origin of entrepreneur
1875–80; < French: literally, one who undertakes (some task), equivalent to entrepren(dre) to undertake (< Latin inter- inter- + prendere to take, variant of prehendere) + -eur -eur. See enterprise
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for entrepreneurial
Contemporary Examples
By 36, Gilkes says, he would like to have children, with his first entrepreneurial success behind him.
William, Kate, and Jay Z’s Favorite Art Star: Alexander Gilkes' World of Rock Stars and RoyaltyTim Teeman
December 10, 2014
Greer is a young, entrepreneurial, poker-loving Texan who ended up in Silicon Valley.
This decline in entrepreneurial activity marks a historic turnaround.
“Our country was built on the entrepreneurial spirit,” the petition reads.
He later became active in entrepreneurial companies, starting TV stations in the Baltic states and investing in start-ups.
Historical Examples
Some land went to entrepreneurial cloth manufacturers, who converted the buildings for the manufacture of cloth.
Our Legal Heritage, 5th Ed.S. A. Reilly
Entrepreneurial master-builders subcontracted work to craftsmen and took a large profit or a large loss and debt.
Our Legal Heritage, 5th Ed.S. A. Reilly
Answer: By providing them with the conditions to work and exercise their entrepreneurial skills.
After the RainSam Vaknin
The match of the entrepreneurial individual with the potential of the technology base is key.
Shock and AweHarlan K. Ullman
entrepreneur
- the owner or manager of a business enterprise who, by risk and initiative, attempts to make profits
- a middleman or commercial intermediary
Word Origin
C19: from French, from entreprendre to undertake; see enterprise
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for entrepreneurial
adj.
1922, from entrepreneur + -al (1).
entrepreneur
n.
1828, "manager or promoter of a theatrical production," reborrowing of French entrepreneur "one who undertakes or manages," agent noun from Old French entreprendre "undertake" (see enterprise). The word first crossed the Channel late 15c. but did not stay. Meaning "business manager" is from 1852. Related: Entrepreneurship.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
entrepreneur
[(ahn-truh-pruh-nur, ahn-truh-pruh-noor)]
One who starts a business or other venture that promises economic gain but that also entails risks.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.