Meanings
taverna1
plural tavernas
- A small Greek restaurant.
In the tavernas of Loutro I had the best octopus I’ve ever eaten, grilled simply with garlic, olive oil and sage over a charcoal fire.
2007 November 18, Henry Shukman, “In Rustic Tavernas, a Classic Cuisine Gets Its Due”, in The New York Times, →ISSN1 more example
The streets of Palizzi, through which no Englishman perhaps had as yet descended, were swarming with perfectly naked, berry-brown children, and before I reached the taverna I could hardly make my way through the gathering crowd of astonished mahogany Cupids. The taverna was but a single dark room, […]; still it was a better resting-place than the hut at Condufóri, inasmuch as it was free from many intruders.
1852, Edward Lear, Journals of a Landscape Painter in Southern Calabria, &c., London: Richard Bentley, […], pages 46–47
Taverna2
Origin
taverna · noun
- Latintaberna
- Greekταβέρνα
- Englishtaverna
From Greek ταβέρνα (tavérna), from Latin taberna. Doublet of taberna and tavern.
Full word history & related roots →Taverna · proper noun
- ItalianTaverna
- EnglishTaverna
Borrowed from Italian Taverna.
More words from Italian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
German Taverne
- Tavernesmall Greek restaurant
Cite this entry
taverna. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/taverna
“taverna.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/taverna. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “taverna,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/taverna.
Source: taverna on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.