Standard Lemma guide

canteen

noun · 12 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • kăn-tēnʹ
  • UK: /kænˈtiːn/
  • US: /kænˈtin/
  • [khɛə̯nˈthin] US, æ-raising
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • India: /ˈkæːn.ʈiːn/
  • rhymes with -iːn
  • CMU ARPABET: K AE0 N T IY1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A water bottle, flask, or other vessel, typically used by a soldier or camper as a bottle for carrying water or liquor for drink.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A military mess kit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A box with compartments for storing eating utensils, silverware etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A temporary or mobile café used in an emergency or on a film location etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A small cafeteria or snack bar, especially one in a military establishment, school, or place of work.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • He ordered a salad at the canteen.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A small cafeteria or snack bar, especially one in a military establishment, school, or place of work.

A cafeteria in a school or place of work.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

A small cafeteria or snack bar, especially one in a military establishment, school, or place of work.

Goods purchased from a prison canteen.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

a flask for carrying water; used by soldiers or travelers

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: flask

9

noun

Meaning 9

restaurant in a factory; where workers can eat

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: restaurant, eating house, eating place, eatery

10

noun

Meaning 10

a recreation room in an institution

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: recreation room, rec room

11

noun

Meaning 11

a restaurant outside; often for soldiers or policemen

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mobile canteen

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: restaurant, eating house, eating place, eatery

12

noun

Meaning 12

sells food and personal items to personnel at an institution or school or camp etc.

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: shop, store

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French cantine, itself borrowed from Italian cantina. Doublet of cantina.

Across languages

Translations

215 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: mensë — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Arabic: مَقْصَف (maqṣaf) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Arabic: كَافِتِيرِيَا (kāfitīriyā) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Arabic: مقصف (maqṣaf) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Arabic: مقصف (magṣaf) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Armenian: ճաշարան (čašaran) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Azerbaijani: yeməkxana — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Azerbaijani: bufet — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Azerbaijani: aşxana — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Azerbaijani: kafeteriya — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Bashkir: ашхана (aşxana) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Basque: kantina — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Basque: jantegi — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Belarusian: стало́вая (stalóvaja) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Belarusian: яда́льня (jadálʹnja) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Belarusian: стало́ўка (stalówka) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Belarusian: стало́ўня (stalównja) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Belarusian: стра́ўня (stráwnja) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Belarusian: кафетэ́рый (kafjetéryj) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Belarusian: кафэтэ́рый (kafetéryj) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Bulgarian: столо́ва (stolóva) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Bulgarian: ла́вка (lávka) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Bulgarian: трапеза́рия (trapezárija) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Burmese: စစ်သုံးအိုးခွက် (cacsum:ui:hkwak) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Catalan: cantina — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Chinese Cantonese: 餐廳 /餐厅 (caan1 teng1) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Chinese Cantonese: 飯堂 /饭堂 (faan6 tong4) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Chinese: гуанзы (guanzɨ) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Chinese: цантин (cantin) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Chinese Mandarin: 食堂 (shítáng) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Chinese Mandarin: 餐廳 /餐厅 (cāntīng) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Chinese Mandarin: 館子 /馆子 (guǎnzi) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Czech: jídelna — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Czech: kantýna — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Danish: kantine — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Danish: cafeteria — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Central Dusun: kantin — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Dutch: kantine — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Dutch: cafetaria — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Estonian: söökla — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Estonian: kafeteeria — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Faroese: kantina — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Faroese: matstova — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Finnish: ruokala — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Finnish: kanttiini — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Finnish: henkilöstöruokala — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Finnish: kafeteria — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • French: cantine — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • French: cafétéria — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • French: cafèt’ — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Georgian: სასადილო (sasadilo) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • German: Kantine — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • German: Mensa — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • German: Cafeteria — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Greek: καντίνα (kantína) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Greek: τραπεζαρία (trapezaría) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Greek: καφετέρια (kafetéria) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Hebrew: קַנטִינָה (kantina) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Hebrew: קָפִיטֶרְיָה (kafitéria) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Hindi: कैंटीन (kaiṇṭīn) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Hindi: कैफ़ेटेरिया (kaifeṭeriyā) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Hungarian: kantin — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Hungarian: menza — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Icelandic: mötuneyti — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Icelandic: matsalur — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Indonesian: kantin — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Ingrian: stolovoi — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Irish: ceaintín — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Irish: bialann — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Italian: mensa — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Italian: caffetteria — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Japanese: 食堂 (shokudō) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Japanese: カフェテリア (kafeteria) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Japanese: 学食 (gakushoku) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Kazakh: асхана (asxana) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Kazakh: дәмхана (dämxana) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Khmer: អាហារដ្ឋាន (ʼaahaaratthaan) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Korean: 식당 (sikdang) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Korean: 구내식당 (gunaesikdang) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Korean: 카페테리아 (kapeteria) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Kyrgyz: ашкана (aşkana) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Kyrgyz: столовая (stolovaya) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Kyrgyz: кафетерий (kafeteriy) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Lao: ຮ້ານອາຫານ (hā n hān) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Latin: caupona castrensis — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Latvian: ēdnīca — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Latvian: kafetērija — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Lithuanian: valgykla — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Macedonian: кантина (kantina) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Macedonian: менза (menza) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Macedonian: кафетерија (kafeterija) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Malay: kantin — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Malay: kafeteria — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Māori: kāmuri — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Mongolian: гуанз (guanz) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kantine — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kafeteria — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Occitan: cantina — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Pashto: کانتين (kāntín) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Persian: کافهتریا (kâfe-teriyâ) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Persian: آشخانه (âšxâne) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Polish: stołówka — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Polish: kafeteria — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Portuguese: cantina — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Romanian: cantină — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Romanian: cofetărie — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Russian: столо́вая (stolóvaja) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Russian: заку́сочная (zakúsočnaja) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Russian: буфе́т (bufét) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Russian: кафете́рий (kafetɛ́rij) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Russian: столо́вка (stolóvka) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Serbo-Croatian: канти́на — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Serbo-Croatian: ме̏нза — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Serbo-Croatian: кафетѐрија — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Serbo-Croatian: kantína — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Serbo-Croatian: mȅnza — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Serbo-Croatian: kafetèrija — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Slovak: kantína — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Slovak: jedáleň — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Slovene: menza — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Southern Altai: ашкана (aškana) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Spanish: cantina — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Swedish: matsal — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Swedish: kantin — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Swedish: cafeteria — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Tajik: ошхона (ošxona) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Tatar: ашханә (aşxanä) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Thai: โรงอาหาร (roong-aa-hǎan) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Turkish: kantin — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Turkish: aşhane — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Turkish: kafeterya — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Ottoman Turkish: آشخانه (aşhâne) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Ottoman Turkish: مطره (matra) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Turkmen: mytara — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Turkmen: aşhana — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Ukrainian: їда́льня (jidálʹnja) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Ukrainian: кафете́рій (kafetérij) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Uyghur: ئاشخانا (ashxana) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Uzbek: oshxona — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Uzbek: ovqatxona — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Uzbek: yemakxona — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Uzbek: kafeteriy — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Vietnamese: căng tin — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Vietnamese: căn tin — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Welsh: caban bwyd — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Yiddish: קאַנטינע (kantine) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Yiddish: קאַפֿעטעריע (kafeterye) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Yiddish: מאָלאָטשנע (molotshne) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Yiddish: סטאָלאָווע (stolove) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Yiddish: סטאָלאָווקע (stolovke) — small cafeteria or snack bar
  • Greek: καντίνα (kantína) — temporary or mobile cafe
  • Swedish: kantin — temporary or mobile cafe
  • Swedish: markententeri — temporary or mobile cafe
  • Finnish: ruokailuvälinelaatikko — box with compartments
  • Finnish: aterinlaatikko — box with compartments
  • German: Besteckkasten — box with compartments
  • Greek: κασετίνα (kasetína) — box with compartments
  • Icelandic: hnífaparakassi — box with compartments
  • Portuguese: faqueiro — box with compartments
  • Basque: mahai-tresnak — military mess kit
  • Finnish: ruokailuvälinesarja — military mess kit
  • Finnish: pakki — military mess kit
  • Icelandic: mataráhöld hermanna — military mess kit
  • Welsh: blwch — military mess kit
  • Arabic: زَمْزَمِيَّة (zamzamiyya) — water bottle
  • Belarusian: пля́ха (pljáxa) — water bottle
  • Belarusian: пля́шка (pljáška) — water bottle
  • Belarusian: бідо́н (bidón) — water bottle
  • Bulgarian: мане́рка (manérka) — water bottle
  • Catalan: cantimplora — water bottle
  • Chinese Mandarin: 水壺 /水壶 (shuǐhú) — water bottle
  • Czech: polní láhev — water bottle
  • Dutch: veldfles — water bottle
  • Estonian: pläsku — water bottle
  • Estonian: lähker — water bottle
  • Faroese: lummafløska — water bottle
  • Finnish: kenttäpullo — water bottle
  • French: gourde — water bottle
  • French: bidon — water bottle
  • Galician: cantil — water bottle
  • Galician: limeta — water bottle
  • German: Feldflasche — water bottle
  • Greek: παγούρι (pagoúri) — water bottle
  • Hebrew: מֵימִיָּה — water bottle
  • Hebrew: מימייה — water bottle
  • Hungarian: kulacs — water bottle
  • Icelandic: vatnsbrúsi — water bottle
  • Italian: borraccia — water bottle
  • Japanese: 水筒 (suitō) — water bottle
  • Khmer: ប៊ីដុង (biidong) — water bottle
  • Korean: 수통 (sutong) — water bottle
  • Lao: ກະຕິກ (ka tik) — water bottle
  • Latin: laguncula — water bottle
  • Macedonian: чутура (čutura) — water bottle
  • Persian: قمقمه (qomqome) — water bottle
  • Polish: manierka — water bottle
  • Portuguese: cantil — water bottle
  • Russian: фля́га (fljága) — water bottle
  • Russian: фля́жка (fljážka) — water bottle
  • Russian: бидо́н (bidón) — water bottle
  • Serbo-Croatian: чу̀тура — water bottle
  • Serbo-Croatian: čùtura — water bottle
  • Spanish: cantimplora — water bottle
  • Swedish: fältflaska — water bottle
  • Thai: กระติก (grà-dtìk) — water bottle
  • Turkish: matara — water bottle
  • Ukrainian: фля́га (fljáha) — water bottle
  • Ukrainian: фля́жка (fljážka) — water bottle
  • Ukrainian: пля́шка (pljáška) — water bottle
  • Ukrainian: бідо́н (bidón) — water bottle
  • Volapük: militaflad — water bottle
  • Welsh: botel ddŵr — water bottle
  • Welsh: fflasg ddŵr — water bottle
  • Yiddish: קאַנטין (kantin) — water bottle
  • Yiddish: קאַנטינע (kantine) — water bottle