Salonist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A skilled practitioner delivering personal grooming and aesthetic enhancements in a salon atmosphere
2. A person who provides beauty treatments and hairdressing services in a salon setting
3. An expert specializing in personal care and styling within a salon environment

Etymology: "Salonist" is an alternative form of "saloniste," which comes from French, where a "saloniste" was originally a person who frequented or hosted a salon, the gatherings of writers, thinkers and artists that were a fixture of French cultural life. The French "salon" itself derives from the Italian "salone," an augmentative of "sala" meaning hall, so the word has traveled from a large room to a social gathering to a person who attends or runs one. The grooming sense in the definition given here, a practitioner working in a beauty salon, is a later extension of that social meaning. The shift reflects how "salon" moved from describing a gathering of people to describing a commercial establishment for hairdressing and beauty treatments, and the personal title followed the place.