tavern
[tav-ern]
- a place where liquors are sold to be consumed on the premises.
- a public house for travelers and others; inn.
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Origin of tavern
1250–1300; Middle English taverne < Old French < Latin taberna hut, inn, wine shop
Synonyms
See more synonyms for tavern on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tavern
Contemporary Examples
She could have auditioned to be the tavern wench or a faerie; instead, she signed on as a merchant, knitting chain-mail bikinis.
At the end of the fourth season premiere, Arya and The Hound stumble upon a tavern in the woods.
Game of Thrones’ 8 Most Gruesome Deaths: From The Mountain’s Exploding Head Kill to Rat TortureMarlow Stern
June 4, 2014
We got our first clue last week when Arya Stark and The Hound stumbled across a tavern in the woods.
Game of Thrones’ ‘The Lion and the Rose’: Joffrey’s Demented, Shocking Royal WeddingAndrew Romano
April 14, 2014
As I arrive, I notice a string of cement flowerpots blocking the road right outside the tavern.
I feel like I am in a John Le Carré novel and scurry into the tavern in hopes of avoiding an “international incident.”
Historical Examples
Almost every tavern of note about town hath or had its club.
We found them at a sort of tavern, where were the English Governor and his escort at the time.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
This was a bad beginning, and by the time we reached a tavern, I was ready to anchor.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
He tells you of his coming as he might notify a tavern wench.
In the ValleyHarold Frederic
Springfield had a church, and a school, and a post office, and a tavern.
The Hunted OutlawAnonymous
tavern
- a less common word for pub
- US, Eastern Canadian and NZ a place licensed for the sale and consumption of alcoholic drink
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French taverne, from Latin taberna hut
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 tavern
n.
late 13c., "wine shop," later "public house" (mid-15c.), from Old French taverne (mid-13c.) "shed made of boards, booth, stall," also "tavern, inn," from Latin taberna "shop, inn, tavern," originally "hut, shed," possibly by dissimilation from *traberna, from trabs (genitive trabis) "beam, timber."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper