different between waiter vs housekeeper

English

Etymology

Late 14th century, "attendant, watchman," agent noun from the verb wait +? -er. Sense of "servant who waits at tables" is from late 15th century, originally in reference to household servants; in reference to inns, eating houses, etc., it is attested from 1660s. Feminine form waitress first recorded 1834.

The London Stock Exchange sense harks back to the early days of trading in coffee-shops.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?we?t?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?we?t?/
• Rhymes: -e?t?(?)
• Hyphenation: wait?er

Noun

waiter (plural waiters, feminine waitress)

1. A male or female attendant who serves customers at their tables in a restaurant, café or similar.

2. Someone who waits for somebody or something; a person who is waiting.
   • 2013, Siciliani Luigi, Borowitz Michael, Moran Valerie, OECD Health Policy Studies: Waiting Time Policies in the Health Sector

     However, the NTPF also contained implicit negative incentives for the public sector by offering alternative private sector treatment for the longest waiters at no extra cost to patients or no penalty to public providers.

3. A person working as an attendant at the London Stock Exchange.
4. (obsolete) A vessel or tray on which something is carried, as dishes, etc.; a salver. (See etymology of dumbwaiter.)
5. (obsolete) A custom house officer; a tide waiter.
6. (obsolete) A watchman.

Derived terms

• coast waiter
• dumbwaiter
• landwaiter
• tide waiter

Related terms

• wait
• waitress

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ????? (u?t?)

Translations

See also

• barista
• bartender
• maître d'
• server

References

Old French

Verb

waiter

1. (Old Northern French, Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of gaitier

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ts, *-tt are modified to z, t. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (waiter)

English

Etymology

From house +? keeper.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?ha?skip?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?ha?ski?p?/
• Hyphenation: house?keep?er

Noun

housekeeper (plural housekeepers)

1. (now rare) Someone who owns a house as a place of residence; a householder. [from 15th c.]
   • 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, I.1:

     He was often heard to express his fears of coming upon the parish; and to bless God, that, on account of his having been so long a housekeeper, he was intitled to that provision.

2. Someone (traditionally a woman) employed to look after the home, typically by managing domestic servants or superintending household management; also someone with equivalent duties in a hotel, institution etc. [from 16th c.]

   She was their third housekeeper, but after a month or so she also gave up.

3. Someone who manages the running of a home, traditionally the female head of the household. [from 17th c.]
4. (colloquial, now rare) Someone who keeps to their house; someone who rarely ventures away from home; an unadventurous person, a homebody. [from 18th c.]
   • 1915, John Buchan, Salute to Adventurers:

     I do assure you he is no house-keeper. I have seen him in desperate conflict with savage men, and even with His Majesty's redcoats.

Coordinate terms

• housemaid

Translations