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Origin and history of canteen

canteen(n.)

1744 (in a recollection from c. 1710), "store in a military camp," from French cantine "sutler's shop" (17c.), from Italian cantina "wine cellar, vault," diminutive of canto "a side, corner, angle." Thus it is perhaps another descendant of the many meanings that were attached to Latin canto "corner;" in this case, perhaps "corner for storage." A Gaulish origin also has been proposed.

The sense of "refreshment room at a military base" (1803) was extended to schools, etc. by 1870. The meaning "small tin for water or liquor, carried by soldiers on the march, campers, etc." is from 1744, from a sense in French.

also from 1744

Entries linking to canteen

cantina(n.)

"bar room, saloon," 1892, Texas and U.S. southwest dialect, from Spanish and Italian form of canteen in the "wine cellar" sense.

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    store
    mid-13c., storen, "to supply or stock" (a town, castle, etc.) with supplies, including food, from Old French estorer "provide, furnish; erect, construct, build; restore, repair; furnish, equip, provision," from Latin instaurare "to set up, establish; renew, restore," in Medieval
    posh
    by 1914 (1903 as push), a word of uncertain origin, but there is no evidence for the common derivation from an acronym of port outward, starboard home, supposedly the shipboard accommodations of wealthy British traveling to India on the P & O Lines (to keep their cabins out o
    shop
    c. 1300, "booth or shed for trade or work," perhaps from Old English scoppa, a rare word of uncertain meaning, apparently related to scypen "cowshed," from Proto-Germanic *skoppan "small additional structure" (source also of Old High German scopf "building without walls, porch,"
    restaurant
    "an eating-house, establishment where meals may be bought and eaten," 1821, from French restaurant "a restaurant," originally "food that restores," noun use of present participle of restaurer "to restore or refresh," from Old French restorer (see restore). In 1765 a man by the n
    flask
    mid-14c., from Medieval Latin flasco "container, bottle," from Late Latin flasconem (nominative flasco) "bottle," which is of uncertain origin. A word common to Germanic and Romanic, but it is unclear whether the Latin or Germanic word is the original (or whether both might have
    canto
    1580s, "a section of a long poem," used in Italian by Dante, in English first by Spenser, from Italian canto "song," from Latin cantus "song, a singing; bird-song," from past participle stem of canere "to sing" (from PIE root *kan- "to sing"). In medieval music, canto fermo (1789
    mobile
    late 15c. (Caxton), "capable of movement, capable of being moved, not fixed or stationary," from Old French mobile (14c.), from Latin mobilis "movable, easy to move; loose, not firm," figuratively, "pliable, flexible, susceptible, nimble, quick; changeable, inconstant, fickle," c
    exile
    c. 1300, from Old French essillier "exile, banish, expel, drive off" (12c.), from Late Latin exilare/exsilare, from Latin exilium/exsilium "banishment, exile; place of exile," from exul "banished person," from ex "away" (see ex-); according to Watkins the second element is from P
    jukebox
    also juke-box, "machine that automatically plays selected recorded music when a coin is inserted," 1939, earlier jook organ (1937), from jook joint "roadhouse, brothel" (1935), African-American vernacular, from juke, joog "wicked, disorderly," a word in Gullah (the creolized Engl

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