Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·French ·1820s (in English)
Restaurant
from restaurant
- Meaning
- Originally a "restorative" — a rich broth sold at public eateries to restore health.
- Source word
- restaurant
- Route into English
- The word was a shop sign ("bouillons restaurants") before it named the shop itself; the generalised "eating establishment" sense is post-1765.
- Arrived
- 1820s (in English)
From French
Beyond the Norman conquest's Old French foundation, English kept borrowing from French for art, cuisine, fashion, and diplomacy throughout the modern period.
English borrows.
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