Dictionary Definition
cafeteria n : a restaurant where you serve
yourself and pay a cashier
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
(Mid 19th or 20th century) American Spanish cafetería, coffeehouse, from cafetera, coffee maker, from French cafetière, from café, from Ottoman Turkish qahvehNoun
- A restaurant in which customers select their food at a counter then carry it on a tray to a table to eat
- A dining area in an institution where meals may be purchased (as above) or brought in from elsewhere
Translations
restaurant
- Chinese: 食堂 (shítáng); 餐厅 (cāntīng, dining hall)
- Czech: jídelna , bufet, menza (at university)
- French: cafétéria, cafèt'
- Greek: καπηεταιρια (kaphetairia)
- Hebrew: מזנון (miznon)
- Italian: caffeteria
- Japanese: 食堂 (shokudō)
- Latin: cafeteria
- Polish: kafeteria
- Portuguese: cafeteria
- Romanian: cofetărie
- Spanish: cafetería
- Swedish: cafeteria
Alternative spellings
Extensive Definition
Cafeteria may refer to:
- Cafeteria, a room for eating in
- Cafeteria, a genus of bicosoecid
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
automat, beanery, bistro, buffet, buvette, cafe, canteen, cantina, chophouse, chuck wagon, coffee
shop, coffeehouse,
coffeeroom, commons, cookhouse, cookshack, cookshop, diner, dinette, dining car, dining
hall, dining room, dining saloon, dog wagon, drive-in, drive-in
restaurant, eatery,
eating house, fast-food chain, grill, grillroom, hamburger stand,
hash house, hashery,
hot-dog stand, kitchen,
lunch counter, lunch wagon, luncheonette, lunchroom, mess, mess hall, messroom, pizzeria, quick-lunch counter,
refectory, restaurant, salle a manger,
smorgasbord, snack
bar, tavern, tearoom, trattoria