restaurateur

[ res-ter-uh-tur; French res-taw-ra-tœr ]

/ ˌrɛs tər əˈtɜr; French rɛs tɔ raˈtœr /

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noun, plural res·tau·ra·teurs

[res-ter-uh-turz; French res-taw-ra-tœr]. /ˌrɛs tər əˈtɜrz; French rɛs tɔ raˈtœr/.

the owner or manager of a restaurant.

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Sometimes res·tau·ran·teur

[res-ter-uhn-tur, ‐tuh-rahn-, ‐trahn-] /ˌrɛs tər ənˈtɜr, ‐tə rɑn-, ‐trɑn-/ .

Origin of restaurateur

1790–1800; <French; Middle French: restorer <Late Latin restaurātor, equivalent to Latin restaurā(re) to restore + -tor-tor

usage note for restaurateur

The English word restaurateur , borrowed from French, still exists in modern French in the same form and with the same meaning. The variant spelling restauranteur , influenced by the more familiar English word restaurant , is gaining some currency, but has traditionally been considered erroneous.

Words nearby restaurateur

restart, rest assured, restate, restaurant, restaurant car, restaurateur, rest cure, rest energy, restful, restharrow, rest home

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use restaurateur in a sentence

A few hours earlier I had emailed a different restaurateur asking if he’d be around tonight because I’ll be in his neighborhood, and he said he was taking the day off to get his vaccine.
NYC Restaurant Workers Rush to Get Vaccinated As Eligibility Opens|Amanda Kludt|February 8, 2021|Eater
Consumer demand had not disappeared–grocery store shelves emptied—but drivers were not picking up food, line workers had been let go from infected plants and restaurateurs lost their restaurants.
We Can End Hunger in America—If We're Willing to Make Significant Changes to Our Food System|Pierre Ferrari|January 29, 2021|Time
Pork prices more than doubled in China in 2019 following an ASF outbreak, making it extremely difficult for restaurateurs to both keep customers smiling and turn a profit.
How China Could Change the World by Taking Meat Off the Menu|Charlie Campbell/Shanghai|January 22, 2021|Time
Chefs and restaurateurs joined forces to offer additional assistance and relief funds.
Restaurants, bars put creativity on the menu in 2020|Evan Caplan|December 30, 2020|Washington Blade

Branger is just one of many restaurateurs across the country turning to hibernation as a way to get through the winter.
Why Restaurants Are ‘Hibernating’ and What That Really Means|Hillary Dixler Canavan|December 18, 2020|Eater
“In 20 years, this just might be a city of Taco Bells,” one restaurateur recently shuddered.
High Rents Are Killing the Restaurant Capital|Will Doig|October 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A Chinese restaurateur ran to the window as I wolfed down roast duck for my farewell dinner, as shots were heard across the way.
No Movie Stars, No Red Carpet, But Off-Season Cannes Is Still Magic|Liza Foreman|September 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Around that time, in 1972, Chinese-American restaurateur Michael Tong opened Shun Lee Palace on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
‘The Search for General Tso’: The Origins of America’s Favorite Chinese Dish, General Tso’s Chicken|Marlow Stern|April 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The show closes with Anthony visiting an Israeli restaurateur, Natan, who lost his daughter to the violence of the conflict.
Watching Anthony Bourdain in Palestine|Maysoon Zayid|September 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST
She is married to Geoff Tracy, a restaurateur in Washington, D.C.
See Who’s Coming to Women in the World 2013: Speakers & Participants||March 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
A restaurateur has very lately set up in a very grand style, but the population of the town will scarcely support him.
Travels through the South of France and the Interior of Provinces of Provence and Languedoc in the Years 1807 and 1808|Lt-Col. Pinkney
The restaurateur, usually a zambo or a mulatto, prides himself in the superiority of his picantes and his clicha.
Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests|J. J. von Tschudi
Aussi grand par ses conquêtes, que par l'amour des lettres, et en fut le protecteur et la restaurateur.
On the Portraits of English Authors on Gardening,|Samuel Felton
Dining one day at a restaurateur's, he was accosted by an old general officer near him.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. IX.--February, 1851.--Vol. II.|Various
A cheap and highly popular restaurateur named Pinson rented the old theatre.
In the Days of My Youth|Amelia Ann Blandford Edwards

British Dictionary definitions for restaurateur

restaurateur

/ (ˌrɛstərəˈtɜː) /

noun

a person who owns or runs a restaurant

Word Origin for restaurateur

C18: via French from Late Latin restaurātor one who restores, from Latin restaurāre to restore

usage for restaurateur

Although the spelling restauranteur occurs frequently, it is a misspelling and should be avoided

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