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maître d'hôtel

[mey-ter doh-tel, mey-truh; French me-truh doh-tel]
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR maître d'hôtel ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural maî·tres d'hô·tel [mey-terz doh-tel, mey-truh z; French me-truh doh-tel] /ˌmeɪ tərz doʊˈtɛl, ˌmeɪ trəz; French ˌmɛ trə doʊˈtɛl/.

a headwaiter.
a steward or butler.
the owner or manager of a hotel.
Cookery. a sauce of melted butter, minced parsley, and lemon juice or vinegar.

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RELATED WORDS

headwaiter, major-domo

Origin of maître d'hôtel

1530–40; < French: master of (the) hotel
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for maitre d'hotel

maître d'hôtel

noun plural maîtres d'hôtel

a head waiter or steward
the manager or owner of a hotel

Word Origin for maître d'hôtel

C16: from French: master of (the) hotel
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 maitre d'hotel

1530s, "head domestic," from French maître d'hôtel, literally "house-master," from Old French maistre "master; skilled worker, educator" (12c.), from Latin magistrum (see magistrate). Sense of "hotel manager, manager of a dining room" is from 1890. Shortened form maître d' is attested from 1942; simple maitre from 1899.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper