barista

American

[buh-ris-tuh, -ree-stuh, bah-rees-tah] / bəˈrɪs tə, -ˈri stə, bɑ ris tɑ /

noun

plural

baristas, baristi

a person who is specially trained in the making and serving of coffee drinks, as in a coffee bar.

barista British

/ bəˈrɪstə /

noun

a person who makes and serves coffee in a coffee bar

"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

Etymology

Origin of barista

First recorded in 1980–85; from Italian: “bartender,” from bar bar ¹ ( def. ) (a loanword from English) + Italian -ista -ist ( def. )

Explanation

A barista is a café employee who specializes in coffee drinks, especially espresso. The person who makes your half-caf vanilla caramel latte is a barista. In Italy, a barista is a "bartender serving coffee drinks, alcoholic drinks, and snacks." The word was adopted by English-speakers around 1992, at the start of the craze for espresso bars and cafés outside of Italy. If a restaurant only serves drip coffee, the person making it isn't called a barista. An espresso machine, on the other hand, requires a barista. If your specialty coffee drink is always delicious and served with a smile, be sure to tip your barista!

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The trio created companies alluding to the catering industry, such as Worldwide Coffee Traders Ltd, Catering Pantry International Ltd and Barista Distribution Ltd in a bid to cover their tracks, police said.

From BBC • Aug. 29, 2025

What that means is we failed a lot in order to perfect it, to make the Barista the highest quality it can be, especially when it comes to frothing qualities for making lattes and cappuccinos.

From Salon • Dec. 15, 2024

Both have won an annual tournament for competitive coffee-making that made them United States Barista Champions.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2023

At the 2022 World Barista Championships in Melbourne, Morgan Eckroth of Onyx Coffee guided a tower of coffee grinds out from under the mammoth grinder as she prepared to pull a shot of espresso.

From Slate • Jan. 11, 2023

Unlike the machines in its Barista line, this system uses a standard 58mm portafilter and accessories.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 1, 2021

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023