bistro

bistro

See also: Bistro, bistró, bistrò, and bistrô

English

WOTD – 29 July 2009

At the Bistro, painting by Jean Beraud

Etymology

Attested from c. 1920, from the French bistro(t) with the original meaning "proprietor of a tavern" (1880s), of unknown origin, presumably regional French dialect. See the French etymology for more.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbiːstɹəʊ/, /ˈbɪstɹəʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbiːstɹoʊ/, /ˈbɪstɹoʊ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: (UK) -ɪstɹəʊ, (US) -ɪstɹoʊ

Noun

bistro (plural bistros)

1. A small restaurant.
2. A small bar or pub.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:pub

Translations

small restaurant

Armenian: բիստրո (hy) (bistro) Basque: bistro Catalan: bistrot Danish: bistro (da) c Dutch: eetcafé (nl) n, bistro (nl) Finnish: bistro (fi) French: bistro (fr) m German: Bistro (de) n Hebrew: ביסטרו‎ Hungarian: bisztró (hu) Italian: trattoria (it) f, bistrot (it) Japanese: ビストロ Latin: popīna (la) f Malay: bistro Norwegian: bistro m Polish: bistro (pl) Portuguese: bistrô (pt) m Russian: бистро́ (ru) n (bistró) Spanish: bistró (es), casa de comidas f Swedish: bistro (sv) c Tagalog: bistro Ukrainian: бістро (bistro) Welsh: bistro

small bar

Armenian: բիստրո (hy) (bistro) Danish: bistro (da) c Finnish: bistro (fi) French: bistro (fr) m German: Bistro (de) n, Kneipe (de) f Hungarian: bisztró (hu) Italian: osteria (it) f Russian: бистро́ (ru) n (bistró), заку́сочная (ru) f (zakúsočnaja), (neglectful) забега́ловка (ru) f (zabegálovka)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Slovak: (please verify) bistro n

Verb

bistro (third-person singular simple present bistros, present participle bistroing, simple past and past participle bistroed)

1. (rare) to eat at a bistro

See also

• fast food

Anagrams

• orbits

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Danish

Etymology

From French bistro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈb̥isd̥ʁo]

Noun

bistro c (singular definite bistroen, plural indefinite bistroer)

1. A bistro.

Inflection

Declension of bistro

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	bistro	bistroen	bistroer	bistroerne
genitive	bistros	bistroens	bistroers	bistroernes

Further reading

• “bistro” in Den Danske Ordbog

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Esperanto

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): [ˈbistro]
• Rhymes: -istro
• Hyphenation: bis‧tro

Noun

bistro (accusative singular bistron, plural bistroj, accusative plural bistrojn)

1. bistre

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Finnish

Etymology

From French bistro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbistro/, [ˈbis̠t̪ro̞]
• Rhymes: -istro
• Syllabification^(key): bist‧ro

Noun

bistro

1. bistro

Declension

Inflection of bistro (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative		bistro	bistrot
genitive		bistron	bistrojen
partitive		bistroa	bistroja
illative		bistroon	bistroihin
		singular	plural
nominative		bistro	bistrot
accusative	nom.	bistro	bistrot
	gen.	bistron
genitive		bistron	bistrojen
partitive		bistroa	bistroja
inessive		bistrossa	bistroissa
elative		bistrosta	bistroista
illative		bistroon	bistroihin
adessive		bistrolla	bistroilla
ablative		bistrolta	bistroilta
allative		bistrolle	bistroille
essive		bistrona	bistroina
translative		bistroksi	bistroiksi
instructive		—	bistroin
abessive		bistrotta	bistroitta
comitative		—	bistroineen

Possessive forms of bistro (type valo)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	bistroni	bistromme
2nd person	bistrosi	bistronne
3rd person	bistronsa

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French

Alternative forms

• bistrot

Etymology

The legend of the origin of the word due to the Russian occupation in 1814.

The etymology is unclear; it is presumed to come from a regional word: bistro, bistrot, bistingo, or bistraud, a word in the Poitou dialect which means a "lesser servant", or bistouille, bistrouille, a colloquial term from the northern area of France[1] for a mixture of brandy and coffee, the kind of beverage that could be served at a bistro. The first recorded use of the word appears in 1884,[2] the next in 1892 ("bistrot").

A popular folk etymology of the word claims that it originated among Russian troops who occupied Paris following the Napoleonic Wars. In taverns they would shout the Russian бы́стро (býstro, “quickly”) to the waiters, so that "bistro" took on the meaning of a place where food was served quickly.[3] This etymology is rejected, due to the 69 year gap between the proposed origin and the first attestation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bis.tʁo/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

bistro m (plural bistros)

1. bistro

Descendants

• → Brazilian Portuguese: bistrô
• → Danish: bistro
• → English: bistro

References

1. Glenn Randall Mack, Asele Surina. Food Culture In Russia And Central Asia. →ISBN. Page 154.
2. Robert K. Barnhart. The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology. →ISBN. Page 94.
3. Scarborough, Jack. The Origins of Cultural Differences and Their Impact on Management. →ISBN. Page 172; Joseph, Nadine. Passport France. World Trade Press, 1997. Page 84.

Further reading

• bistro on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• bistro on the French Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^fr
• “bistro”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Italian

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French bistre.

Noun

bistro m (plural bistri)

1. bistre

Verb

bistro

1. first-person singular present indicative of bistrare

Further reading

• bistro in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

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Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French bistro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbis.trɔ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -istrɔ
• Syllabification: bis‧tro

Noun

bistro n (indeclinable)

1. bistro (small restaurant)

   paryskie bistro ― a Parisian bistro

   pobliskie bistro ― a nearby bistro

   małe bistro ― a small bistro

   bar i bistro ― bar and bistro

Declension

Declension of bistro

	singular	plural
nominative	bistro	bistra
genitive	bistra	bister
dative	bistru	bistrom
accusative	bistro	bistra
instrumental	bistrem	bistrami
locative	bistrze	bistrach
vocative	bistro	bistra

Or indeclinable.

Further reading

• bistro in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• bistro in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Romanian

Noun

bistro n (plural bistrouri)

1. Alternative form of bistrou

Declension

Declension of bistro

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) bistro	bistroul	(niște) bistrouri	bistrourile
genitive/dative	(unui) bistro	bistroului	(unor) bistrouri	bistrourilor
vocative	bistroule		bistrourilor

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Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From French bistro.

Noun

bìstrō m (Cyrillic spelling бѝстро̄)

1. bistro

Declension

Declension of bistro

	singular	plural
nominative	bistro	bistroi
genitive	bistroa	bistroa
dative	bistrou	bistroima
accusative	bistro	bistroe
vocative	bistro	bistroi
locative	bistrou	bistroima
instrumental	bistroom	bistroima

Adjective

bistro

1. neuter nominative/accusative/vocative singular of bistar

Adverb

bistro

1. clearly

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Spanish

Noun

bistro m (plural bistros)

1. bistro

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Swedish

Etymology

From French bistro. Attested since 1947.

Noun

bistro c

1. small bar or café

Declension

Declension of bistro
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	bistro	bistron	bistroer	bistroerna
Genitive	bistros	bistrons	bistroers	bistroernas

References

• bistro in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• bistro in Svensk ordbok (SO)