Word
cafeteria
Phoneticscafe·te·ria
US/ˌkæfəˈtɪɹiə/
UK/kˌæfɪtˈiəɹɪɐ/
Definitions
01dining area in a building
n. a large room in a school, office, or hospital where people eat their meals.
n. a dining area within an institution where meals are provided or brought in, often featuring communal seating.
“The students gathered in the school cafeteria to eat lunch and talk.”
“The hospital cafeteria remains open twenty-four hours a day to accommodate staff working the night shift and visiting relatives.”
Synonyms
02self-service restaurant
n. a type of restaurant where you pick up your food at a counter and carry it on a tray.
n. a restaurant in which customers select their food from a service counter and carry it on a tray to a table.
“We decided to eat at the cafeteria because it was faster than a sit-down restaurant.”
“The museum's cafeteria offers a variety of hot and cold dishes, allowing tourists to have a quick meal before continuing their tour.”
American English
Usage
In British English, the term 'canteen' is more common for workplaces or schools, while 'cafeteria' often implies a public self-service cafe.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Mexican Spanish cafetería (“coffeehouse”), from cafetera (“coffee maker”), from French cafetière, from café, from Ottoman Turkish قهوه (kahve) (Turkish kahve), from Arabic قَهْوَة (qahwa, “coffee”). Doublet of cafetière.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.