maître d'

noun

maî·​tre d' ˌmā-trə-ˈdē 

ˌme-,

-tər-

variants or maitre d'

plural maître d's or maitre d's ˌmā-trə-ˈdēz 

ˌme-,

-tər-

: maître d'hôtel, headwaiter

Did you know?

Maître d' is short for maître d'hôtel, which comes from French and literally means "master of the house." Maître d'hôtel was used in English for a head butler or steward of a household before it referred to the head of a dining-room staff. For the record, the plural of maître d'hôtel is maîtres d'hôtel whereas the plural of maître d' is maître d's.

Examples of maître d' in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Brown was a maitre d' in a Chicago restaurant. —Charisse Jones, USA TODAY, 11 July 2020

Trust maitre d' Massimiliano to point you in the direction of the day's best catch; and trust his parents, Ruggero and Lucia, to cook it to perfection. —Travel + Leisure, 6 July 2021

The maitre d' is heard explaining that the menu starts at 160 euros ($190) per person. —Saskya Vandoorne and Rob Picheta, CNN, 6 Apr. 2021

Minasian and Karl Uecker, a maitre d', were responsible for escorting Kennedy through the hotel kitchen immediately after winning the California primary. —Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY, 16 Mar. 2021

Mars has said the face was originally modeled after a Chicago maitre d' named Frank Brown. —Alexandra Olson, chicagotribune.com, 24 Sep. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1933, in the meaning defined above

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