taverna

T1A1V4E1R1N1A1
/təˈvɜː(ɹ)nə//təˈvɛə(ɹ)nə/

noun

A small Greek restaurant.

Meanings

taverna1

nountaverna (plural tavernas)

plural tavernas

  1. 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, →ISSN
    1 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

proper nounTaverna (plural Tavernas)

plural Tavernas

  1. A surname from Italian.

Origin

taverna · noun

  1. Latintaberna
  2. Greekταβέρνα
  3. Englishtaverna

From Greek ταβέρνα (tavérna), from Latin taberna. Doublet of taberna and tavern.

Full word history & related roots →

Taverna · proper noun

  1. ItalianTaverna
  2. EnglishTaverna

Borrowed from Italian Taverna.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German Taverne
  • Tavernesmall Greek restaurant
Cite this entry
APA

taverna. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/taverna

MLA

“taverna.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/taverna. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “taverna,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/taverna.

Source: taverna on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.