noun
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a less common word for pub
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a place licensed for the sale and consumption of alcoholic drink
Related Words
See hotel.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tavern
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English taverne, from Old French, from Latin taberna “hut, inn, wine shop”
Explanation
A tavern is a pub or a bar, often one that rents upstairs rooms to travelers. The word tavern is most popular in the New England region of the United States, where many taverns date back as far as the 1600s and 1700s. A tavern is a drinking establishment that rents rooms — in England, it's much more common to call such a place an inn. The earliest, thirteenth century meaning of tavern was "wine shop," and by the 1400s it meant "public house or inn." The root word is the Latin taberna, "hut, shop, or inn."
Vocabulary lists containing tavern
Content Summary 5.1: Causes of the Atlantic Revolutions
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for February 18–February 24, 2023
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Elijah of Buxton
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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.
When he walked into the Gatehouse Tavern by the shipyard just before 5 p.m. on a recent Monday, the place was empty.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026
At the Brennan family pub, Leo's Tavern, the young musician played with Clannad before they established their international reputation.
From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026
Others, like Gramercy Tavern and Minetta Tavern in New York and the Blue Duck Tavern in Washington, D.C., have lost their everyman appeal, becoming impossible to get into and expensive to eat at.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
Hidden behind the upstairs bar is what’s called the Tempered Flask Tavern, and it’s an elaborate tabletop role-playing game room.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026
“One will operate out of Corby’s Tavern, the other from the Highlander.”
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
