different between sommelier vs waiter

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French sommelier (“originally, a person in charge of the beasts of burden carrying wine”), from somme (“pack”) +? -ier (suffix forming the names of jobs). somme is from Vulgar Latin *salma, from Latin sagma (“packsaddle”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s?m?m?li.?/, /?s??m?l?je?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s??m?l?je?/
• Rhymes: -e?
• Hyphenation: som?mel?i?er

Noun

sommelier (plural sommeliers)

1. The member of staff at a restaurant who keeps the wine cellar and advises the guests on a choice of wines; a wine steward / stewardess, a wine waiter / waitress / server.

Synonyms

• sommeliere, sommelière (“female sommelier”)
• wine server
• wine steward, wine stewardess
• wine waiter, wine waitress

Translations

Verb

sommelier (third-person singular simple present sommeliers, present participle sommeliering, simple past and past participle sommeliered)

1. (rare) To act as a sommelier.

Further reading

• sommelier on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

somme +? -ier; ultimately from bête de somme; somme is from Vulgar Latin *salma, from Latin sagma (“packsaddle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?.m?.lje/

Noun

sommelier m (plural sommeliers, feminine sommelière)

1. sommelier, wine steward (a person who is in charge of the wine cellar in a restaurant)
2. (estate house) the person in charge of bread, linens, crockery, and liquor; the chief of table setting
3. (obsolete) the person in charge of the wine convoy, its beasts of burden, and its protection

Further reading

• “sommelier” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• someliê (rare)

Etymology

From French sommelier

Noun

sommelier m, f (plural sommeliers)

1. sommelier (wine steward)

   Synonym: escanção

Spanish

Etymology

From French sommelier.

Noun

sommelier m (plural sommelieres)

1. sommelier

Swedish

Noun

sommelier c

1. a sommelier

Declension

Synonyms

• vinkypare

See also

• somalier

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)