Meanings
nounrestaurant (plural restaurants)
plural restaurants · alternative resto
- An eating establishment in which diners are served food, usually by waiters at their tables but sometimes (as in a fast food restaurant) at a counter.
That Italian restaurant serves some of the best food I've ever had in my life.
1 more example
By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.
1935, George Goodchild, chapter 5, in Death on the Centre CourtSynonyms: automat, beanery, buffet, cafeteria, caff, canteen, cookhouse, cookshack
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn eating establishment in which diners are served food, usually by waiters at their tables but sometimes (as in a fast food restaurant) at a counter.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Italic*wre-
- Latinre-
- Proto-Indo-European*steh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*sth₂u-ro-
- Proto-Italic*stauros
- Latin*staurō
- Latinrestaurāre
- Old Frenchrestorer
- Frenchrestaurer
- Frenchrestaurant
- Englishrestaurant
Borrowed from French restaurant, present participle of the verb restaurer, corresponding to Latin restaurans, restaurantis, present participle of restauro (“to restore”), from the name of the 'restorative' soup served in the first establishments.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans restaurant
- restaurantan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Arabic مَطْعَم
- مَطْعَم (maṭʕam)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Basque jatetxe
- jatetxean eating establishment in which diners are served food
Bengali রেস্টুরেন্ট, রেস্তোরাঁ
- রেস্টুরেন্ট (resṭurenṭo)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- রেস্তোরাঁ (restōrã)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Bulgarian рестора́нт
- рестора́нт (restoránt)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Catalan restaurant
- restaurantan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Chinese Cantonese 餐廳 /餐厅, 食肆
- 餐廳 /餐厅 (caan¹ teng¹)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- 食肆 (sik⁶ si³)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Chinese Mandarin 餐廳 /餐厅, 餐館 /餐馆
- 餐廳 /餐厅 (cāntīng)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- 餐館 /餐馆 (cānguǎn)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- 飯店 /饭店 (fàndiàn)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- 飯館 /饭馆 (fànguǎn)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Czech restaurace
- restauracean eating establishment in which diners are served food
Danish restaurant
- restaurantan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Dutch restaurant
- restaurantan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Esperanto restoracio
- restoracioan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Estonian restoran
- restoranan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Finnish ravintola
- ravintolaan eating establishment in which diners are served food
French restaurant
- restaurantan eating establishment in which diners are served food
German Restaurant, Gaststätte
- Restaurantan eating establishment in which diners are served food
- Gaststättean eating establishment in which diners are served food
Greek εστιατόριο
- εστιατόριο (estiatório)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Hawaiian hale ʻaina
- hale ʻainaan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Hebrew מִסְעָדָה
- מִסְעָדָה (mis'adá)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Hindi भोजनालय, रेस्तरां
- भोजनालय (bhojnālay)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- रेस्तरां (restarā̃)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- रेस्टोरेन्ट (resṭorenṭ)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- रेस्तोरां (restorā̃)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- होटल (hoṭal)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Hungarian étterem, vendéglő
- éttereman eating establishment in which diners are served food
- vendéglőan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Icelandic veitingastaður, veitingahús
- veitingastaðuran eating establishment in which diners are served food
- veitingahúsan eating establishment in which diners are served food
- matsölustaðuran eating establishment in which diners are served food
- veitingasaluran eating establishment in which diners are served food
Indonesian restoran, rumah makan
- restoranan eating establishment in which diners are served food
- rumah makanan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Irish bialann
- bialannan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Italian ristorante
- ristorantean eating establishment in which diners are served food
Japanese レストラン, 食堂
- レストラン (resutoran)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- 食堂 (shokudō)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- 料理屋 (ryōriya)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- 料理店 (ryōriten)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Korean 식당, 레스토랑
- 식당 (sikdang)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- 레스토랑 (reseutorang)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- 음식점 (eumsikjeom)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Latin popīna, gānea
- popīnaan eating establishment in which diners are served food
- gāneaan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Latvian restorāns
- restorānsan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Lithuanian restoranas
- restoranasan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Malay restoran, kedai makan
- restoranan eating establishment in which diners are served food
- kedai makanan eating establishment in which diners are served food
- rumah makanan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Māori wharekai, toa kai
- wharekaian eating establishment in which diners are served food
- toa kaian eating establishment in which diners are served food
Norwegian Bokmål restaurant
- restaurantan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Polish restauracja
- restauracjaan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Portuguese restaurante
- restaurantean eating establishment in which diners are served food
Punjabi ਰੈਸਟੋਰੈਂਟ
- ਰੈਸਟੋਰੈਂਟ (raisṭoraiṇṭ)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Romanian restaurant
- restaurantan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Russian рестора́н
- рестора́н (restorán)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Scottish Gaelic taigh-bìdh
- taigh-bìdhan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Slovak reštaurácia, reštika
- reštauráciaan eating establishment in which diners are served food
- reštikaan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Spanish restaurante, restorán
- restaurantean eating establishment in which diners are served food
- restoránan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Swahili mkahawa
- mkahawaan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Swedish restaurang
- restaurangan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Tagalog restawran, manganan
- restawranan eating establishment in which diners are served food
- mangananan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Tamil உணவகம், ஓட்டல்
- உணவகம் (uṇavakam)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- ஓட்டல் (ōṭṭal)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Thai ร้านอาหาร, ภัตตาคาร
- ร้านอาหาร (ráan-aa-hǎan)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- ภัตตาคาร (pát-dtaa-kaan)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Turkish lokanta, restoran
- lokantaan eating establishment in which diners are served food
- restoranan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Ukrainian рестора́н
- рестора́н (restorán)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Urdu ریسْتوران, ریسْٹورانْٹ
- ریسْتوران (restorān)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- ریسْٹورانْٹ (resṭorānṭ)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- ہوٹَل (hoṭal)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- طَعَام گاہ (ta'ām gāh)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
- مَطْعَم (mat'am)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Vietnamese quán ăn, tiệm ăn
- quán ănan eating establishment in which diners are served food
- tiệm ănan eating establishment in which diners are served food
- nhà hàngan eating establishment in which diners are served food
- quánan eating establishment in which diners are served food
- hàngan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Welsh bwyty
- bwytyan eating establishment in which diners are served food
Yiddish רעסטאָראַן
- רעסטאָראַן (restoran)an eating establishment in which diners are served food
Cite this entry
APA
restaurant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/restaurant
MLA
“restaurant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/restaurant. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “restaurant,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/restaurant.
Source: restaurant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.