entrepreneur

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˌɒn.trə.prəˈnɜː/, US /ˌɑːn.trə.prəˈnɝː/^[1]

Etymology

It is, borrowed a second time, borrowed from French entrepreneur (“one who undertakes, a manager”),^[2][3] from Old French entreprendre, to undertake (see enterprise), and -eur (see -or).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The manager or promoter of a theatrical production or musical institution: 1828.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word had crossed the Channel once before, as Middle English entreprennoure (1475) and enterprenour (1485), but then vanished from recorded English for almost 350 years.^[2][3] The modern sense, a person who owns and manages a business and takes the risk, appeared in 1852, first in political economy.^[2][5][6] Entrepreneurship is from 1934.^[5]

Timeline

• 1475 – entreprennoure (Middle English).^[2]
• 1828 – a theatrical promoter.^[2][3]
• 1852 – a business owner and risk-taker.^[2][5]
• 1934 – entrepreneurship.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who sets up and runs a business, taking on the financial risk in the hope of profit.
2. A middleman or commercial intermediary.

Word family

• entrepreneurial
• entrepreneurship
• entrepreneurialism
• entrepreneurially
• enterprise
• infopreneur
• intrapreneur

Related words

• comprehend
• prehensile

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster