Waitron

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who serves food and drinks to customers at a restaurant
2. An individual responsible for taking orders and delivering meals in a dining establishment
3. Staff member who attends to diners by bringing food and beverages in a restaurant setting

Etymology: A "waitron" is a gender-neutral stand-in for "waiter" and "waitress," coined to avoid choosing between the two. The most striking thing about it is the ending. English has few words ending in "-ron" that are actually in use, so the word stands out as one of the rare examples of that suffix doing real work. Its form was probably reinforced by the familiar rhyme with "patron," which made the ending sound natural to English ears. Some references instead link the ending to "-tron," the "machinelike" suffix found in words such as "electron" and "cyclotron," which would make "waitron" a sort of "mechanical waiter." That reading is less likely. The ending more plausibly follows "laundron," the same gender-neutral pattern, and it parallels how "waiter" and "waitress" use "-er" and "-ress" rather than the unrelated "-ter" or "-tress."

Synonyms: server, waiter, waitress, food server, caterer