entrepreneur

American  

[ahn-truh-pruh-nur, -noor, ahn-truh-pruh-nœr] / ˌɑn trə prəˈnɜr, -ˈnʊər, ɑ̃ trə prəˈnœr /

noun

plural

entrepreneurs

1. a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.

2. an employer of productive labor; contractor.

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verb (used with object)

1. to deal with or initiate as an entrepreneur.

verb (used without object)

1. to act as an entrepreneur.

entrepreneur British  

/ ˌɒntrəprəˈnɜː, ɑ̃trəprənœr /

noun

1. the owner or manager of a business enterprise who, by risk and initiative, attempts to make profits

2. a middleman or commercial intermediary

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entrepreneur Cultural  

1. One who starts a business or other venture that promises economic gain but that also entails risks.

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Other Word Forms

• entrepreneurial adjective
• entrepreneurship noun

Etymology

Origin of entrepreneur

First recorded in 1875–80; from French: literally, “one who undertakes (some task),” equivalent to entrepren(dre) “to undertake” (from Latin inter- inter- + prendere “to take,” variant of prehendere ) + -eur -eur; see enterprise

Explanation

An entrepreneur is someone who starts a new business. Little stores and huge companies both have entrepreneurs behind them. Do you have good ideas for products? Are you OK with the idea of risk? Then maybe you should be an entrepreneur. This is someone who founds a business, whether a tiny one or a huge one. Besides starting the business, the entrepreneur takes on the most of the risk by investing their own money and/or bringing in other investors. For an entrepreneur, their business is their baby.

Example Sentences

For the San Francisco-based artist and entrepreneur that niche underpins a thriving retail business.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

"He laughed, and he said, 'Bring back $50 billion in deals,'" quipped White -- a longtime entrepreneur with an easygoing banter who raised large sums for Trump in recent campaigns.

From Barron's • Apr. 21, 2026

Up next was N.W.A founder and Beats Electronics entrepreneur, Dr. Dre, who was inducted by producer Jimmy Iovine.

From Salon • Apr. 20, 2026

Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun once championed the Trump family’s flagship venture into digital assets.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

In San Francisco a twenty-one-year-old entrepreneur named Sol Bloom realized that the Chicago fair would let him at last take advantage of an asset he had acquired in Paris two years earlier.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• administrator
• contractor
• executive
• manager
• producer