Taberna

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of establishment or tavern, often associated with the selling of food and drink
2. An ancient term referring to a shop or public house, typically frequented by locals for dining and socializing
3. A venue or place, historically linked to hospitality and community gathering, where beverages and meals are served

Etymology: Latin "taberna" originally meant a hut or booth made of boards, and by extension a shop or stall, which is why the same word could describe a wine-seller's counter in a Roman street as easily as a place to eat and drink. Its first meaning was really about the building material: "tabula," a board, is its root, so the sense of a plank-built shelter came before any idea of trade. The Latin word left two main descendants in English through different routes. "Tavern" came into English through Old French, carrying the Roman idea of a drinking-and-eating house into medieval England. "Taverna," the Italian and Greek form, came into English much later, and in the Spanish-influenced word "taberna" the same Latin root returns almost unchanged, so that English now holds three versions of one ancient word. Such pairs, where one word enters a language twice by different paths, are called doublets.

Synonyms: shop, store, tavern, inn, stall