barista

[ buh-ris-tuh-ree-stuh; Italian bah-rees-tah ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, plural ba·ris·tas, ba·ris·ti [b, uh, -, ree, -stee, bah-, r, ees-tee].

a person who is specially trained in the making and serving of coffee drinks, as in a coffee bar.

barista

/ bəˈrɪstə /

Origin of barista¹

First recorded in 1980–85; from Italian: “bartender,” from bar bar ¹( def ) (a loanword from English) + Italian -ista -ist ( def )

Origin of barista¹

C20: Italian: literally, bartender

Your HR person is as likely to be as pierced as your barista.

“We were recently in a coffee shop and the barista said they recognized us,” he says.

So does the barista at Starbucks, and the checkout clerk at Whole Foods.

At Glassdoor.com, the employee-review site, workers noted that “barista” jobs at Cosi pay between $8 and $10 an hour.

Evan Rachel Wood stars as a flighty barista in ‘A Case of You,’ premiering at Tribeca.

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