cafeteria

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: caf=e=te=ri=a

CIDE DICTIONARY

cafeteria, n. [Cf. F. cafetière.].

•  A restaurant or café at which the patrons serve themselves with food kept at a counter, typically paying a cashier at the end of the counter and taking the food to tables to eat.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
•  a room within a building functioning in the same manner as a cafeteria{1}. In certain organizations, as schools, the food may be provided gratis.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

cafeteria, n. a restaurant in which customers collect their meals on trays at a counter and usu. pay before sitting down to eat.

Etymology

Amer. Sp. cafeter{iacute}a coffee-shop

THESAURUS

cafeteria

automat, beanery, bistro, buffet, buvette, cafe, canteen, cantina, chophouse, chuck wagon, coffee shop, coffeehouse, coffeeroom, commons, cookhouse, cookshack, cookshop, diner, dinette, dining car, dining hall, dining room, dining saloon, dog wagon, drive-in, drive-in restaurant, eatery, eating house, fast-food chain, grill, grillroom, hamburger stand, hash house, hashery, hot-dog stand, kitchen, lunch counter, lunch wagon, luncheonette, lunchroom, mess, mess hall, messroom, pizzeria, quick-lunch counter, refectory, restaurant, salle a manger, smorgasbord, snack bar, tavern, tearoom, trattoria