Etymograph

English

entrepreneur

Entrepreneur comes from French entrepreneur ‘one who undertakes or manages’, and goes back to Middle French entreprendre.

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600entreprendre1‘to undertake’
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600entrepreneur1
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presententrepreneur1‘one who undertakes or manages’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1938entrepreneur1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English entrepreneur
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1938, Federal Writers' Project, Market Place for Words: “Chicago, it was, by way of compensation, beginning to…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600entreprendreWiktionary, English entrepreneur‘to undertake’
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600entrepreneurWiktionary, English entrepreneur
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presententrepreneurWiktionary, English entrepreneur‘one who undertakes or manages’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1938entrepreneurWiktionary, English entrepreneur. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1938, Federal Writers' Project, Market Place for Words: “Chicago, it was, by way of compensation, beginning to…”

Linked words

through Middle French entreprendre ‘to undertake’

enterprise

Today it means

noun A person who sets up a business; generally, a person who owns and manages a business and assumes its financial risks.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “entrepreneur”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle French entreprendre / entrepreneur

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