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Glite Dictionary
🏨 An innkeeper 🍞 Food supplier
victualer

victualer

9.9
A person who runs an inn and serves guests food and drink
  • noun
  • /ˈvɪtʃʊlər/
  • Archaic
translation icon : posadero
  • As a successful victualer, she prided herself on providing the finest local wines and delicacies.

Examples

  • In some sense, medieval and early modern chapmen, peddlers, victualers, and tavern-keepers long knew what nineteenth-century

    Academic text (1992)

  • The victualer at the inn served hearty meals to tired travelers after a long journey.

  • The charming victualer welcomed guests with a warm smile and a delicious breakfast each morning.

Synonyms

innkeeper
vsvictualer
19 3.4

A person who runs a small hotel and looks after guests

is the more British and old-fashioned term for the same role
tavern keeper
vsvictualer
1 5.5

A person who owns or runs a small bar serving food and drink

provides both food and lodging rather than focusing mainly on drinks

How Big

hotelier
5 5.4
restaurateur
21 7.0
victualer
  • Archaic
9.9
publican
  • UK
4 7.8

Surface Forms

victualer singular
victualers plural

Morphology

victualer = victual (semi-transparent) = victual + er

Formed from 'victual' + '-er' yielding 'one who supplies food'; relation is clear but 'victual' is relatively rare/archaic and has irregular pronunciation, which may confuse learners.

Etymology

Victualer comes from the old word victual, which comes from Latin victus and means 'food', and you may hear the old form 'vittles'. So a victualer was a person who provided food and drink to guests, which is why it means an innkeeper.