Etymograph

English

restaurant

Restaurant is borrowed from French restaurant, present participle of restaurer ‘to restore’, after the restorative soup the first establishments served.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sth₂u-ro-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*stauros1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*staurō1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErestaurō1‘to restore’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400restorer1‘to restore’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentrestaurer1‘to restore’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentrestaurant1
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1935restaurant1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English restaurant
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1935, George Goodchild: “By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sth₂u-ro-Wiktionary, English restaurantreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*staurosWiktionary, English restaurantreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*staurōWiktionary, English restaurantreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErestaurōWiktionary, English restaurant‘to restore’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400restorerWiktionary, English restaurant‘to restore’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentrestaurerWiktionary, English restaurant‘to restore’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentrestaurantWiktionary, English restaurant
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1935restaurantWiktionary, English restaurant. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1935, George Goodchild: “By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with restaurant, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Latin *staurō

  • store ← stor ← īnstaurāre ← īnstaurō

through Old French restorer ‘to restore’

4 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun An eating establishment in which diners are served food, usually by waiters at their tables but sometimes (as in a fast food restaurant) at a counter.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “restaurant”. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *sth₂u-ro- / restaurant