ENGLISH
REFERENCE

cater

v. · n.
US //ˈkeɪtɝ// UK //kˈeɪtɐ// cater
  1. 1 to provide food (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Cooking

    to provide food and drink for a large group of people at an event like a wedding or meeting.

    to provide professional food and beverage services for a social event or gathering. Often used with the preposition 'for'.

    Example

    The hotel will cater for the wedding reception next Saturday.

    Example

    The local firm was hired to cater the international conference, providing three meals a day for over five hundred delegates.

    Usage

    In British English, it is common to 'cater for' an event, while American English often uses 'cater' as a transitive verb without the preposition.
  2. 2 to meet needs (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    to provide exactly what a particular person or group wants or needs.

    to supply what is required or desired by a specific audience or demographic. Usually takes the preposition 'to' or 'for'.

    Example

    This new television channel caters to young children who love animals.

    Example

    The boutique hotel specifically caters to business travellers who require high-speed internet and quiet working spaces.

    Usage

    Commonly follows the pattern 'cater to' (US) or 'cater for' (UK).

    Teacher's tip

    This sense often carries a slightly negative nuance if it implies someone is only doing what is easy or popular, such as 'catering to the lowest common denominator'.
  3. 3 bell ringing (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Technical Music

    a special way of ringing nine church bells in a specific pattern.

    a method of change ringing on nine bells, typically involving four pairs of bells changing places while a tenth bell remains in a fixed position.

    Example

    The church bells rang a complex cater to celebrate the holiday.

    Example

    The guild of bell ringers performed a flawless cater, demonstrating the mathematical precision required for nine-bell change ringing.

    Usage

    Used as a plural noun ('caters') to describe the specific system of changes.

Etymology 1

From Middle English catour (“acater, provisioner”), aphetic form of acatour (“acater”), from Old French acater (“to buy, to purchase”). Equivalent to cate + -er.

Etymology 2

Probably ultimately from French quatre (“four”), possibly via cater (“change-ringing”), although Liberman argues for a derivation from a North Germanic prefix meaning "crooked, angled, clumsy" from which he also derives cater-cousin and, via Norse, Old Irish cittach (“left-handed, awkward”). He finds this more likely than extension of the dice and change-ringing term cater as an adverb, given the likely cognates in other Germanic languages. Caterpillar and caterwaul are unrelated, being derived from cognates to cat, but may have influenced the pronunciation of Liberman's proposed earlier *cate- or undergone similar sound changes.

Etymology 3

From French quatre (“four”). Doublet of cuatro.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Word family

Last updated June 20, 2026