cafe English · revision 7976

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1789|origins=fr café}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈkæf.eɪ/, US /kæfˈeɪ/, /kəˈfeɪ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|café|t=coffee, coffee-house]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) from Italian [[m|it|caffè|t=coffee]] (see [[coffee]]),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ultimately from Turkish kahve.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A coffee-house or restaurant: 1789 in the OED and MWU;^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) 1802 in Etymonline and Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Coffee was introduced in Venice by 1615 and in France by the 1650s by travellers who had been to Turkey and Egypt, and the first public European café may have opened in Marseilles in 1660.^(Etymonline) The OED notes that it was strictly a French term at first.^(OED 1989) French phrases such as café au lait are from 1763,^(OED 1989) and café chantant, a café with singing, from 1854.^(OED 1989) ''Café society'', the people who frequent fashionable restaurants and nightclubs, is from 1922.^(Etymonline) In North America a café can also be a bar or nightclub,^(COED 2004)^(SOED 2002) and in South Africa a corner shop.^(Collins 2023) British slang has the shortening caf.^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1763 – café au lait.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1789 – a coffee-house.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1854 – café chantant.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1922 – café society.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small, inexpensive [[restaurant]] or [[coffee]] bar serving light meals and drinks.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(North America)'' A bar or nightclub.^(COED 2004)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(South Africa)'' A corner shop.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[coffee]]

+ * [[cafeteria]]

+ * [[caffeine]]

+ * [[caff]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ It is spelled café or cafe.^(COED 2004)^(Chambers 2008)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}