café (French)
Where does "café" come from?
The word café traces its origins to the Arabic term 'qahwa', which traveled through the Ottoman Turkish 'kahve' before being adopted into Italian as 'caffè'. French borrowed the term from Italian in the form 'caveé' to describe the popular beverage. Over time, the name for the drink also came to refer to the public establishments where it was served and the distinct dark brown color of the bean.
Full etymology tree
- café (French), 'coffee (drink)'
- borrowed caffè (Italian), 'coffee (plant and drink)'
- borrowed قهوه (Ottoman Turkish), 'coffee'
- borrowed قَهْوَة (Arabic), 'coffee (the drink)'
- derived قَهِيَ (Arabic)
- derived ق ه ي (Arabic)
- derived قَهِيَ (Arabic)
- borrowed قَهْوَة (Arabic), 'coffee (the drink)'
- borrowed قهوه (Ottoman Turkish), 'coffee'
- borrowed caffè (Italian), 'coffee (plant and drink)'
Ancestors
- caffè (Italian)
- قهوه (Ottoman Turkish)
Cognates and doublets
- caoua (French)
- kahve (Turkish)
Descendants and derived words
- café (Spanish)
- kafeja (Albanian)
- Kaafe (Alemannic German)
- café (Asturian)
- kafe (Crimean Tatar)
- café (Danish)
- café (Dutch)
- café (English)
- café allongé (French)
- café arrosé (French)
- café au lait (French)
- café au lait (French)
Updated May 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris