What does entrepreneur mean?
An entrepreneur is a person who conceives, organizes, and runs a business venture, accepting financial risk in pursuit of potential reward. Unlike someone who merely manages an established company, an entrepreneur typically initiates something new — a product, service, or entire business — often working with limited resources and considerable uncertainty. The word carries strongly positive connotations in contemporary usage, evoking innovation, ambition, self-reliance, and economic dynamism; politicians and media frequently praise entrepreneurs as engines of job creation and growth. It functions as a countable noun ('a successful entrepreneur') and appears constantly in compounds and fixed phrases such as 'serial entrepreneur', describing someone who repeatedly launches new ventures. Derived forms include 'entrepreneurship' (the activity or practice), 'entrepreneurial' (adjective), and 'intrapreneur', a modern coinage for someone who innovates inside an established organization. Borrowed directly from French in the early nineteenth century, the word retains its French pronunciation and spelling, which makes it a frequent source of misspelling despite being one of the most widely used terms in modern business vocabulary.
nounA person who organizes and operates a business venture, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.
- A person who founds and runs a business venture, assuming financial risk in the hope of profit.
"The young entrepreneur turned her garage startup into a multinational company within a decade."
"As an entrepreneur, she has launched three successful tech companies."
"The government offers grants to encourage every aspiring entrepreneur to start a business."
Standard regular plural; simply add -s. No alternative plural forms are accepted.
"The conference attracted hundreds of entrepreneurs from across the country."
The word 'entrepreneur' comes straight from French, meaning literally 'one who undertakes' — the same risk-taking spirit hidden inside 'enterprise'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of entrepreneur
Entrepreneur entered English directly from French in the early nineteenth century, though it was borrowed earlier in limited contexts such as theater management. It derives from the Old French verb entreprendre, meaning 'to undertake', formed from entre- ('between') and prendre ('to take'), ultimately from the Latin verb prehendere, 'to seize or grasp'. This same Latin root gives English related words such as enterprise, apprehend, and comprehend. A person who undertakes such ventures is thus, quite literally, one who 'takes between themselves' the risks of an undertaking.
Related word forms
How entrepreneur is actually used
Neutral to positively connoted in modern usage, especially in business and media contexts, where it often implies innovation and initiative. The feminine-specific forms 'entrepreneuse' and the anglicized 'entrepreneuress' exist but are rare and can sound dated. Commonly used attributively before other nouns (e.g. 'entrepreneur mindset').
Easily confused with entrepreneur
An entrepreneur starts and runs their own independent business venture, while an intrapreneur behaves entrepreneurially within an existing company rather than founding their own.