Meaning & use
maître d'
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Meaning
nouncountableinformal
The person in charge of the dining room of a restaurant, who greets guests, assigns tables, and oversees the waiting staff.
Grammar: Countable: one maître d', two maître d's; the apostrophe marks the shortened French phrase.
Patterns
- the maître d' of a restaurant
- ask the maître d'
The maître d' led us to a quiet table by the window.
We asked the maître d' whether a table for six was free.
A good maître d' remembers each regular customer's name.
Word forms
| plural | maître d's |
|---|
Common combinations
- speak to the maître d'
- Please speak to the maître d' if you need to change your booking.
- tip the maître d'
- He slipped a bill to the maître d' for a better table.
- head maître d'
- The head maître d' has worked there for thirty years.
- the maître d' greeted
- The maître d' greeted us with a slight bow.
Synonyms and how they differ
- head waiter
- Head waiter is plain English and also describes the senior server, while maître d' sounds more formal and French.
- host
- Host is a general American term for the person who seats guests, with less authority than a maître d'.
- headwaiter
- Headwaiter is simply the one-word form and has the same meaning, but it lacks the upscale feel of maître d'.
Word family
- maître d'hôtel noun
- the full French phrase, meaning master of the house
- maître noun
- the French word for master, used as a title in French
Commonly confused: maître d' or sommelier?
maître d' vs sommelier
A sommelier is the specialist who serves and recommends wine, not the person in charge of seating guests.
Practice
You arrive at a smart restaurant with a reservation. Whom do you speak to first?
Choose one answer.
The maître d' greets guests and assigns tables. The sommelier handles wine and the others work out of sight in the kitchen.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “maître d'”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.