Is "maitre d’ " French, not English? Why does the speaker use this word even when English has their own word "waiter"?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
You are correct, "maitre d' " is a French word. However, it does not mean "waiter" exactly, but refers to the person in charge of a restaurant and/or its servers. You can think of them as a type of manager or head waiter who also handles reservations. Ex: I made a reservation with the restaurant's maitre d'. Ex: The maitre d' at this restaurant is quite famous for being snobby.