entrepreneur
noun
Melanie Nguyen Kara Swisher
Did you know?
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 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.
Examples of entrepreneur in a Sentence
Bryan West,
USA Today,
4 July 2026
It is also told through families, workers, immigrants, entrepreneurs, churches, communities, and quiet acts of sacrifice that rarely make history books but shape the nation just the same.
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Phil Kafarakis,
Forbes.com,
4 July 2026
But this second act as an entrepreneur did not begin overnight.
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Leonie Kidd,
CNBC,
3 July 2026
But thanks to recent incremental licensing changes — and the determination of a few entrepreneurs — the city’s wine scene has slowly matured.
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Regan Stephens,
New York Times,
2 July 2026
See All Example Sentences for entrepreneur
Cite this Entry
“Entrepreneur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entrepreneur. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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entrepreneur
noun
