Restaurateur

Etymology

The French restaurateur comes from the Late Latin restaurator ("restorer") and from the Latin restaurare ("to restore"). Restaurateur is simply French for a person who owns or runs a restaurant. The feminine form of the French noun is restauratrice. A less common variant spelling restauranteur, which is a later formation from Anglicized forms, is formed from the "more familiar" restaurant, with the French suffix -eur ("one who") borrowed from restaurateur. It is considered by some to be an etymological error or misspelling, and the form restaurateur (without the n), the earlier form borrowed from French, is preferred in formal writing, especially in the United Kingdom. Restauranteur (with the n) is still widely used, including in formal British writing. The Oxford English Dictionary gives examples of this variant (described as "originally American") going back to 1837. H. L. Mencken said that in using this form he was using an American word rather than a French word.

References

References

1. Michele, Norris. (17 October 2006). "Restaurateur Shares the Secret of His Success". [[NPR]].
2. Muhlke, Christine. (9 August 2010). ["The Insider {{!}} Sang Yoon"](http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/the-insider-sang-yoon/). [[New York Times Company]].
3. (2025). "restaurateur".
4. (6 April 2011). "Restaurateur vs. restauranteur".
5. (2025). "restaurateur".
6. {{cite Dictionary.com. restaurateur. (2025). Dictionary Media Group
7. Wilson, Kenneth. (1993). ["restaurateur, restauranteur"](http://www.bartleby.com/68/30/5130.html). [[Columbia University Press]].
8. Wilkinson, Carl. (11 October 2008). "Me and my travels". [[The Guardian]].
9. {{cite OED. restauranteur. (2025). [[Oxford University Press]]
10. Mencken, H. L.. (1989). "Newspaper Days". Dorset.