canteen

[kan-teen]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR canteen ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small container used especially by soldiers and hikers for carrying water or other liquids.

a general store and cafeteria at a military base.

a place where free entertainment is provided for military personnel.

a place, as in a factory, school, or summer camp, where refreshments and sometimes personal supplies are sold.

a recreation center or social club, especially for teenagers.

a place set up to dispense food during an emergency.

a snack bar.

British. a box or chest for cutlery and other table utensils.

Origin of canteen

1730–40; < French cantine < Italian cantina cellar, perhaps derivative of canto corner (see cant²) with -ina -ine¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for canteen

flask, jug, bottle, bota, thermos, flacon, flasket

Examples from the Web for canteen

Contemporary Examples of canteen

“The profit from the canteen goes directly back into the facility,” says Van Wickler.
‘Progressive Jail’ Is a 21st-Century Hell, Inmates Complain
Sarah Shourd
September 29, 2014
She spent 12-hour days at the Red Cross canteen, doing whatever was needed.
Eleanor Roosevelt: Feminist Icon
Eleanor Clift
September 2, 2014
“Being popular online is like sitting at the cool table in the canteen…In a mental hospital,” he wrote.
Amnesty International U.K. Board Chairman Resigns Over Crude Jokes
Nico Hines
August 14, 2013

Historical Examples of canteen

This revived him, and he offered us his canteen, in which was some excellent Jamaica.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
Set at liberty for the time being, we recruits made for the canteen.
Adventures and Recollections
Bill o'th' Hoylus End
Ashton had half drained the canteen on the way up the mountain.
Out of the Depths
Robert Ames Bennet
When they were ready, she filled his canteen for him and took a sip 190 from it “for luck.”
Out of the Depths
Robert Ames Bennet
Blake dashed his face with the cupful of water still left in the canteen.
Out of the Depths
Robert Ames Bennet

British Dictionary definitions for canteen

canteen

noun

a restaurant attached to a factory, school, etc, providing meals for large numbers of people

a small shop that provides a limited range of items, such as toilet requisites, to a military unit
a recreation centre for military personnel

a soldier's eating and drinking utensils

a temporary or mobile stand at which food is provided

a box in which a set of cutlery is laid out
the cutlery itself

a flask or canister for carrying water or other liquids, as used by soldiers or travellers

Word Origin for canteen

C18: from French cantine, from Italian cantina wine cellar, from canto corner, from Latin canthus iron hoop encircling chariot wheel; see cant ²

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 canteen

c.1710, "store in a military camp," from French cantine "sutler's shop" (17c.), from Italian cantina "wine cellar, vault," which is perhaps another of the many meanings that were attached to Latin canto "corner;" in this case, perhaps "corner for storage." A Gaulish origin also has been proposed. Extended to "refreshment room at a military base, school, etc." from 1870. Meaning "small tin for water or liquor, carried by soldiers on the march, campers, etc." is from 1744, from a sense in French.