English
cafeteria
Cafeteria comes from Mexican Spanish cafetería ‘coffeehouse’, and goes back to Arabic قَهْوَة.
- Arabicc. 500–presentقَهْوَة‘coffee (the drink)’
- Ottoman Turkishc. 1300–1928قهوهkahve‘coffee’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcafetière‘coffee pot’
- Mexican Spanishmoderncafetería‘coffeehouse’
- Englishtodaycafeteria
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Arabicc. 500–presentقَهْوَة‘coffee (the drink)’
- Ottoman Turkishc. 1300–1928قهوهkahve‘coffee’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcafetière‘coffee pot’
- Mexican Spanishmoderncafetería‘coffeehouse’
- Englishtodaycafeteria
Linked words
through Ottoman Turkish قهوه ‘coffee’
Today it means
noun A restaurant in which customers select their food at a counter then carry it on a tray to a table to eat.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Arabic قَهْوَة / cafeteria