cafeteria

[ kaf-i-teer-ee-uh ]

noun

1. a restaurant in which patrons wait on themselves, carrying their food to tables from counters where it is displayed and served.
2. a lunchroom or dining hall, as in a factory, office, or school, where food is served from counters or dispensed from vending machines or where food brought from home may be eaten.

cafeteria

/ ˌkæfɪˈtɪərɪə /

noun

1. a self-service restaurant

Word History and Origins

Origin of cafeteria¹

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40; from Latin American Spanish cafetería “café,” Spanish cafeter(a) “coffeemaker,” from French caf(f)etière (equivalent to café + etière feminine of -ier ); t apparently by analogy with words such as bouquetière “flower seller,” from bases ending in t ) + -ía; coffee, -ier ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of cafeteria¹

C20: from American Spanish: coffee shop

Example Sentences

In the cavernous high school cafeteria, Judy and the board sat before the socially distanced attendees.

From ProPublica

The buffet adds the feel of a hospital cafeteria, the people dining look close to death or knowingly waiting to die.

From Eater

Yes, someone tells me — an all-you-can-eat Taco Bell existed in her dorm cafeteria.

From Eater

Over a number of years, the company took over so much office space—even repurposing an entire building to serve as its corporate cafeteria—that some in Silicon Valley complained it had “sucked the life out of the startup ecosystem in Palo Alto.”

From Fortune

There are also outdoor hallways and outdoor cafeteria space that many other districts don’t have on such a widespread scale.

From Voice of San Diego

He swaggered into the school cafeteria that day with a .22 caliber handgun and started shooting randomly.

From The Daily Beast

La Teresita also has an adjoining cafeteria where you can head for an informal buffet and heaping piles of Cuban delicacies.

From The Daily Beast

Once inside the school cafeteria, which served as an antechamber, each candidate had his own booth.

From The Daily Beast

Maybe Rutgers should add more vegan selections to its cafeteria fare.

From The Daily Beast

In 2012 a St. Louis school cafeteria worker, Dianne Brame, was fired for giving food to a fourth-grader who had no money.

From The Daily Beast

While the roboticist puffed, Mike let his gaze wander idly over the other people in the cafeteria.

From Project Gutenberg

There is provided a cafeteria at which the children can purchase at a small cost their noonday meal.

From Project Gutenberg

I ate my dinner at the hospital cafeteria after work each night and had TV dinners or ate out on the weekends.

From Project Gutenberg

Got some cakes and a little ice-cream in the bottom of a freezer from the company cafeteria.

From Project Gutenberg

It is said that in time they acquire a cafeteria shuffle which one can detect even on the street.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• lunchroom
• snack bar