What does cater mean?
To cater is to provide food and drink for an event, usually as a paid professional service, so that hosts need not cook themselves; a company that does this work is called a caterer. The word also carries an important figurative sense: to cater to or for someone means to accommodate their particular needs, tastes, or requirements. Businesses cater to niche markets, schools cater to students with special needs, and websites cater to specific audiences. The choice of preposition carries regional and tonal weight — British English prefers 'cater for', which sounds neutral and service-oriented, while American English's 'cater to' can imply servile indulgence when applied to people's whims. Derived from Middle English and ultimately connected to words meaning to seize or acquire provisions, cater has grown from a term about buying supplies into one of the most versatile verbs for describing tailored provision of any kind.
verbTo provide food and drink for an event or gathering, typically as a professional service. More broadly, to supply what is wanted or needed by a particular group or person.
- To provide food and drink professionally for an event or gathering.
- (with to/for) To take account of, satisfy, or pander to the particular tastes, needs, or wishes of someone.
"The restaurant will cater the wedding reception for two hundred guests."
"The hotel can cater for parties of up to five hundred people."
"The curriculum was designed to cater to students of all ability levels."
Before it meant serving canapés, 'cater' literally described a man who went out and bought your dinner — it comes from an old French word for a buyer of provisions.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cater
Cater derives from Middle English 'catour', meaning a buyer of provisions, borrowed from Old North French 'acatour', from 'acater' meaning to buy. The word ultimately traces back to Vulgar Latin forms based on 'captare', meaning to chase or seize, making it a distant relative of words like capture and captive. Over time the noun denoting a purveyor of food gave rise to the modern verb, first recorded in its current sense in the early 17th century, and the figurative sense of catering to needs developed later.
Related word forms
How cater is actually used
The preposition choice varies regionally: British English typically uses 'cater for' in both the food-service sense and the figurative sense, while American English favors 'cater to'. In American usage especially, 'cater to' can carry a mildly negative connotation when it suggests excessive indulgence or pandering to someone's whims.
Easily confused with cater
A crater is a large bowl-shaped depression such as one left by an impact or volcano, whereas cater means to provide food or services.
A carter is a person who transports goods by cart, while cater means to provide food or cater to needs.