Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A restaurant in which the customers are served at a counter and carry their meals on trays to tables.
  • noun A dining area, as at a school or office building, where meals may be purchased or brought from home and eaten.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun United States 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.
  • noun 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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A restaurant in which customers select their food at a counter then carry it on a tray to a table to eat
  • noun A dining area in an institution where meals may be purchased (as above) or brought in from elsewhere

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a restaurant where you serve yourself and pay a cashier

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Spanish cafetería, coffee shop, cafeteria, from café, coffee, from Ottoman Turkish qahveh; see coffee.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

(Mid 19th or 20th century) American Spanish cafetería, coffeehouse, from cafetera, coffee maker, from French cafetière, from café, from Ottoman Turkish qahveh, from Arabic qahwa

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Examples

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  • Cafeteria is a girl.

    February 11, 2007