maître d'

American  

[mey-ter dee, mey-truh-] / ˌmeɪ tər ˈdi, ˌmeɪ trə- /

plural

maître d's

1. a headwaiter.

2. a steward or butler.

3. the owner or manager of a hotel.

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Etymology

Origin of maître d'

First recorded in 1815–25; shortening of maître d'hôtel

Example Sentences

“After we spoke, I remembered some things. When I saw your mother in the restaurant, I asked the maître d’ to tell her that we’d be departing soon.

From Literature

Safdie sends Marty out to bedevil the world, shipping him to Paris where he gets snippy with a maître d’ who doesn’t speak English and then to Cairo where he steals a chunk of the Great Pyramids.

From Los Angeles Times

Try as she might, Penelope had not been able to make the maître d’ at the Fern Court understand that the reservation was not under the name Osmunda Regalis, but that she was intending to meet someone near the Osmunda regalis.

From Literature

With a flourish, the maître d’ held back an armful of foliage so that Penelope could enter the leafy, secluded room.

From Literature

As is typical of the show, the Big Picture calamity is balanced by the Small Moment of humanizing tenderness: Grace, alone with Kate and about to be sworn in to the presidency, moans that her clothes make her look “like a maître d’.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• flight attendant
• hostess
• stewardess
• waiter
• waitress