Cabaret

How to spell cabaret

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce cabaret

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does cabaret mean?

1. nounLive entertainment of singing, dancing, or comedy performed in a restaurant or nightclub while guests sit at tables.

Cabaret in a sentence

• The hotel hosts a glamorous cabaret every Saturday night.

• They booked a table near the stage for the late cabaret.

Where does cabaret come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English from French in the early 1900s, taken directly from the French cabaret, which at first meant simply a tavern or drinking house. The French term is thought to come through Old French and Picard from a Middle Dutch word, cabret or caberet, itself probably an alteration of camberet meaning 'little room' or 'little chamber'. Over time the sense in French shifted from the place where people drank to the lively floor show of singing, dancing, and comedy performed there while patrons sat at tables. English adopted that newer entertainment meaning, which is why we associate cabaret with nightclub performance rather than with a humble bar. The silent final 't' and the unexpected '-et' ending are the classic spelling traps, and both are clues that the word is still wearing its French clothing rather than being naturalised into an English spelling.

How the word is built

• cabaret (whole borrowing from French; originally meaning a tavern or drinking house, not analysable into English parts)