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Synonyms

maître d'hôtel

American  
[may-ter doh-tel, may-truh, me-truh doh-tel] / ˌmeɪ tər doʊˈtɛl, ˌmeɪ trə, ˌmɛ trə doʊˈtɛl /

noun

  • maîtres d'hôtel
    plural
  1. a headwaiter.

  2. a steward or butler.

  3. the owner or manager of a hotel.

  4. Cooking. a sauce of melted butter, minced parsley, and lemon juice or vinegar.


maître d'hôtel British  
/ ˌmɛtrə dəʊˈtɛl, mɛtrə dotɛl /

noun

  1. a head waiter or steward

  2. the manager or owner of a 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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of maître d'hôtel

First recorded in 1530–40; from French: “master of (the) house”


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.

See Examples For:

He has even developed a compound honey-chipotle butter, which you can spoon atop the grilled beef, like a Mexican version of maître d’hôtel butter.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 9, 2020

Clockwise from bottom: moules frites; shrimp cocktail; hanger steak with maître d’hôtel butter; a green salad with haricots verts and watermelon radish.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 13, 2019

His father Jack was a chef and maître d’hôtel at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach and his mother Fran was a waitress there — a background that helped produce Mr. Schneider’s formidable culinary skills.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 18, 2017

—Dimitrov is the maître d’hôtel at Tower Bar and at the Sunset Tower Hotel in Los Angeles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2016

"Your frients haff gone up-stairs," the German maître d'hôtel said in English.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

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