Definition of entrepreneur
: one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise
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Recent Examples of entrepreneur from the Web
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Xi’s plan should increase the flow of local and foreign tourists to Hainan, where entrepreneurs and real-estate developers have been pouring in billions of dollars to build resorts and shopping centers that have stayed mostly empty.
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Over the past several years, despite the backdrop of a stock market that was reaching fresh highs, many entrepreneurs were wary of the IPO market and were much more interested in tapping the deep pockets of the private markets for capital.
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Even on days of heavy storms or bitter cold, this hardy entrepreneur was always in her shop before dawn, wearing rubber boots and tallying prices with a pencil.
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But this crazy entrepreneur is a lifelong innovator in the salmon industry.
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But while hemp-wearing entrepreneurs are a part of the mix, an equally important market is Asia—especially China, where deep electrification is already being planned.
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For the Democrats, Austin entrepreneur Joseph Kopser was the leading vote-getter over four other candidates to make the May 22 runoff in Smith’s 21st District.
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The rapper/entrepreneur is a regular presence in Atlanta.
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Trying to compete against powerful, established companies as an entrepreneur is sometimes futile.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'entrepreneur.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The Characteristics of an entrepreneur
You might well wonder whether entrepreneur simply means “a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money” or whether it carries an additional connotation of far-sightedness and innovation. The answer, perhaps unsatisfyingly, is that it can go in either direction.
Entrepreneur has been in used in English to refer to a kind of businessman since at least the middle of the 18th century, when it appeared in translation of the King of Prussia’s instructions for his generals (“. . . if the country happens not to abound in forage, you must agree with some Entrepreneur for the quantity required.”). During the 19th century, it was also used of a go-between or a person who undertakes any kind of activity (as opposed to just a business).
By the early 20th century entrepreneur appears to have taken on the connotation of go-getter when applied to an independent business owner, a quality that may also be found in the phrase entrepreneurial spirit, which began being used at about the same time.
Origin and Etymology of entrepreneur
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ENTREPRENEUR Defined for English Language Learners
Definition of entrepreneur for English Language Learners
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: a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money
Learn More about entrepreneur
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See words that rhyme with entrepreneur Spanish Central: Translation of entrepreneur Nglish: Translation of entrepreneur for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of entrepreneur for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about entrepreneur
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