Cafe Is the French Word for Coffee
A cafe is a small place selling drinks and light meals. The name is simply the drink that made it possible.
A cafe is a small establishment selling coffee, other drinks and light meals. The word is simply French for coffee: the drink named the place. The chain runs back through Italian *caffè* and Turkish *kahve* to Arabic *qahwa*, so a word for a drink travelled from Arabic to English and picked up a building on the way. *Cafeteria* is from Mexican Spanish, and *caffeine* was named after the drink in 1830.
- A small eating place. *A corner cafe.*
- Coffee (French). *Café.*
- Cafeteria — self-service. *A cafeteria.*
- Caffeine — named after coffee. *Caffeine.*
- Arabic — *qahwa*. *The root.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | cafe | A cafe. |
| Plural | cafes | Cafes. |
| French | café | Coffee. |
| Related | cafeteria | A cafeteria. |
| Related | caffeine | Caffeine. |
- We met at a cafe on the corner.Place.
- Café means coffee in French.Etymology.
- Caffeine was named in 1830.Fact.
The journey of one word
- Arabic *qahwa* — originally a word for wine
- Turkish *kahve* — the drink as Europe first met it
- Italian *caffè* — the drink and then the shop
- French *café* — both senses, borrowed by English
- English *coffee* and *cafe* — two forms of one journey
French *café*, coffee, from Italian *caffè*, from Turkish *kahve*, from Arabic *qahwa*.
Are cafe and coffee the same word?
They share the same origin in Arabic qahwa, arriving in English by different routes through Turkish, Italian and French.
Where does cafeteria come from?
Mexican Spanish, meaning a coffee shop, adopted into American English in the late 1800s for a self-service eating place.