entrepreneur

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French entrepreneur (“one who undertakes or manages”), from Middle French entrepreneur, from entreprendre (“to undertake”) +‎ -eur.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɒn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɜː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ/, /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnʊɚ/
• IPA^(key): /ˌɑ̃.tɹə.pɹəˈnœ˞/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ), -ʊə(ɹ)

Noun

entrepreneur (plural entrepreneurs)

1. A person who sets up a business; generally, a person who owns and manages a business and assumes its financial risks. [from 1762]
   • 2021 January 13, Christian Wolmar, “Read all about London's Cathedrals of Steam”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 62:

     Every rail company worth its salt wanted to connect with London. Interestingly, it was largely that way around - provincial entrepreneurs wanting to connect with the capital, rather than London capitalists seeking to spread outwards.

2. (now rare) A person who organizes concerts, plays, or other entertainments; the manager of a theatre or similar venue; an impresario. [from 1800]
3. (rare, sometimes figurative) A person who serves as an intermediary; a middleman; a go-between.
   • 1938, Federal Writers' Project, “Market Place for Words”, in New York Panorama: A Comprehensive View of the Metropolis [...], New York: Random House, page 172:

     Chicago, it was, by way of compensation, beginning to take on the cosmopolitan cast of culture that it has worn ever since, as entrepreneur between the Old World and the New.

4. (obsolete) A person who manages an artist or performer; an agent. [1851–1887]

Derived terms

• agripreneur
• artpreneur
• bioentrepreneur
• ecopreneur
• enterprise
• entreporneur
• entreprenerd
• entreprenertia
• entrepreneurial
• entrepreneurial customer
• entrepreneurialism
• entrepreneurially
• entrepreneuring
• entrepreneurism
• entrepreneurship
• fakepreneur
• fantrepreneur
• ganjapreneur
• homepreneur
• infopreneur
• interprender
• intrapreneur
• microentrepreneur
• momtrepreneur
• mumpreneur
• pastorpreneur
• philanthropreneur
• -preneur
• regulatory entrepreneur
• seniorpreneur
• social entrepreneur
• technopreneur
• teenpreneur
• tenderpreneur
• unorthodox entrepreneur
• wantrepreneur
• webpreneur

Related terms

• entrepreneuse

Translations

person who organizes and operates a business and assumes the associated risk

• Albanian: sipërmarrës (sq) m
• Arabic: مُتَعَهِّد m (mutaʕahhid), مُقَاوِل m (muqāwil), مُلْتَزِم m (multazim), مُنَظِّم m (munaẓẓim)
• Armenian: ձեռներեց (hy) (jeṙnerecʻ)
• Azerbaijani: sahibkar (az), iş adamı, biznesmen
• Bashkir: эшҡыуар (eşqıwar)
• Belarusian: прадпрыма́льнік m (pradprymálʹnik), прадпрыма́льніца f (pradprymálʹnica)
• Bengali: বিনিয়োগকারী (bn) (biniẏōgkari)
• Bulgarian: предприема́ч (bg) m (predpriemáč), предприема́чка f (predpriemáčka)
• Catalan: emprenedor m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 企業家 / 企业家 (zh) (qǐyèjiā)

• Czech: podnikatel (cs) m, podnikatelka f
• Danish: iværksætter (da) c, entreprenør c
• Dutch: ondernemer (nl) m, entrepreneur (nl) m
• Esperanto: entreprenisto, aferisto
• Estonian: ettevõtja (et)
• Finnish: yrittäjä (fi)
• French: entrepreneur (fr) m, entrepreneuse (fr) f
• Georgian: მეწარმე (mec̣arme)
• German: Unternehmer (de) m, Unternehmerin (de) f, Entrepreneur (de) m
• Greek: επιχειρηματίας (el) m or f (epicheirimatías)

  Ancient Greek: ἐργολάβος m (ergolábos)

• Hebrew: יַזָּם (he) m (yazam)
• Hindi: व्यवसायी (hi) m (vyavsāyī), उद्यमी (hi) m (udyamī)
• Hungarian: vállalkozó (hu)
• Indonesian: wirausaha (id)
• Irish: fiontraí
• Italian: imprenditore (it), imprenditrice (it) f
• Japanese: 企業家 (きぎょうか, kigyōka), 起業家 (きぎょうか, kigyōka), アントレプレナー (antorepurenā), アントルプルヌール (antorupurunūru), 事業家 (じぎょうか, jigyōka)
• Kazakh: кәсіпкер (käsıpker)
• Khmer: សហគ្រិន (saʼhaʼkrɨn)
• Korean: 기업가(企業家) (ko) (gieopga), 기업인(企業人) (ko) (gieobin), 사업가(事業家) (ko) (sa'eopga)
• Kyrgyz: ишкер (ky) (işker)
• Lao: ຜູ້ປະກອບການ (phū pa kǭp kān)
• Latvian: uzņēmējs m
• Lithuanian: verslininkas m, verslininkė f
• Macedonian: претприемач m (pretpriemač), претприемачка f (pretpriemačka)
• Malay: usahawan (ms)
• Maori: rakahinonga
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: entreprenør (no) m

• Persian: کارآفرین (kâr-âfarin), صاحب‌کار (fa) (sâheb-kâr), کارخانه‌دار (kârxâne-dâr)
• Plautdietsch: Wirtschofta m
• Polish: przedsiębiorca (pl) m, przedsiębiorczyni (pl) f
• Portuguese: empreendedor (pt) m, empreendedora f
• Romanian: antreprenor (ro) m, antreprenoare (ro) f
• Russian: предпринима́тель (ru) m (predprinimátelʹ), предпринима́тельница (ru) f (predprinimátelʹnica)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: предузетник m, предузетница f, по̏дузе̄тнӣк m, по̏дузе̄тница f

  Roman: preduzetnik m, preduzetnica f, pȍduzētnīk (sh) m, pȍduzētnica (sh) f

• Slovak: podnikateľ m, podnikateľka f
• Slovene: podjetnik m, podjetnica f
• Southern Altai: аргачы (argačï)
• Spanish: emprendedor (es) m, emprendedor comercial m, comerciante (es) m
• Swahili: mjasiriamali
• Swedish: entreprenör (sv) c
• Tagalog: maninikap
• Tajik: соҳибкор (sohibkor), корхонадор (korxonador)
• Tatar: эшкуар (tt) (eşkuwar)
• Thai: ผู้ประกอบการ (th) (pûu-bprà-gɔ̀ɔp-gaan)
• Turkish: atılımcı (tr), girişimci (tr), müteşebbis (tr)
• Turkmen: telekeçi
• Ukrainian: підприє́мець m (pidpryjémecʹ), підприє́мниця f (pidpryjémnycja)
• Uzbek: tadbirkor (uz)
• Vietnamese: chủ doanh nghiệp
• Welsh: entrepreneur m or f, dyn busnes m

person who organizes a risky activity of any kind and acts substantially in the manner of a business entrepreneur

• Catalan: emprenedor m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: podnikatel (cs) m, podnikavec m
• Finnish: yrittäjä (fi)
• Greek: εργολάβος (el) m or f (ergolávos)
• Japanese: 冒険家 (ja) (ぼうけんか, bōkenka)
• Spanish: emprendedor (es) m

person who strives for success and takes on risk by starting his own venture, service etc.

• Finnish: yrittäjä (fi)

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

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} imprenditore (it) m
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} poduzetnik (sh)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} företagare (sv) c

References

• “entrepreneur, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• Philip Babcock Gove et al., editors (1961), “entrepreneur”, in Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged [...], volume I: A to G, Merriam-Webster Inc., →ISBN, page 758; republished Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1993, →ISBN

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French entrepreneur, from entreprendre (“to undertake”) +‎ -eur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.nœʁ/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

entrepreneur m (plural entrepreneurs, feminine entrepreneuse)

1. entrepreneur (person who organizes and operates a business venture)

Related terms

• entrepreneuse

Descendants

• → English: entrepreneur
• → Polish: przedsiębiorca, przedsiębierca (obsolete) (calque)
  • → Kashubian: przedsãbiérca
• → Romanian: antreprenor
• → Spanish: emprendedor (calque)

Further reading

• “entrepreneur”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Indonesian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French entrepreneur.

Noun

entrepreneur (plural entrepreneur-entrepreneur)

1. entrepreneur (person who organizes and operates a business venture)

   Synonyms: wirausaha, wirausahawan, wiraswasta

Further reading

• “entrepreneur” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.