maître d'hôtel
[mey-ter doh-tel, mey-truh; French me-truh doh-tel]
- 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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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. 2018
maître d'hôtel
- a head waiter or steward
- the manager or owner of a hotel
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Word Origin
C16: from French: master of (the) hotel
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper