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Definition cater

Etymology 1

From Middle English catour (“acater, provisioner”), aphetic form of acatour (“acater”), from Old French achater (“to buy, to purchase”). Equivalent to cate +‎ -er.

Verb

cater (third-person singular simple present caters, present participle catering, simple past and past participle catered)

1. To provide, particularly:
   1. (transitive, intransitive) To provide with food, especially for a special occasion as a professional service.
   2. (intransitive, figuratively, with 'to') To provide anything required or desired, often (derogatory) to pander.

Noun

cater (plural caters)

1. (obsolete) Synonym of acater: an officer who purchased cates (food supplies) for the steward of a large household or estate.
2. (obsolete) Synonym of caterer: any provider of food.
3. (figuratively, obsolete) Synonym of purveyor: any provider of anything.

Etymology 2

Probably ultimately from French quatre (“four”), possibly via cater (“change-ringing”), although Liberman argues for a derivation from a North Germanic prefix meaning "crooked, angled, clumsy" from which he also derives cater-cousin and, via Norse, Old Irish cittach (“left-handed, awkward”). He finds this more likely than extension of the dice and change-ringing term cater as an adverb, given the likely cognates in other Germanic languages. Caterpillar and caterwaul are unrelated, being derived from cognates to cat, but may have influenced the pronunciation of Liberman's proposed earlier *cate- or undergone similar sound changes.

Verb

cater (third-person singular simple present caters, present participle catering, simple past and past participle catered)

1. (Britain dialectal) To place, set, move, or cut diagonally or rhomboidally.

Adverb

cater (not comparable)

1. (Britain dialectal, US) Diagonally.

Etymology 3

From French quatre (“four”).

Noun

cater (plural caters)

1. (rare, obsolete) Four.
2. (card games, dice games, obsolete) The four of cards or dice.
3. (music) A method of ringing nine bells in four pairs with a ninth tenor bell.

Results 228 Words with the letters CATER

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