Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A restaurant or nightclub providing short programs of live entertainment.
  • noun The floor show presented by such a restaurant or nightclub.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A tavern; a house where liquors are retailed: as, “some cabaret or tennis-court,” Abp. Bramhall, Against Hobbes.
  • noun A set of vessels forming a service for tea, coffee, or the like; for example, a tray with tea-pot or pitchers and cups, generally made of the same material throughout, as fine porcelain or the like.
  • noun A certain plant. See etymology.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Obs. as an English word. A tavern; a house where liquors are retailed.
  • noun A type of restaurant where liquor and dinner is served, and entertainment is provided, as by musicians, dancers, or comedians, and usually providing space for dancing by the patrons; -- similar to a nightclub. In some cases, the performers dance or sing on the floor between the tables, after the practice of a certain class of French taverns. The term cabaret is often used in the names of such an establishment.
  • noun The type of entertainment provided in a cabaret{2}.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Live entertainment held in a restaurant or nightclub.
  • noun The nightclub or restaurant where such entertainment is held.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a spot that is open late at night and that provides entertainment (as singers or dancers) as well as dancing and food and drink
  • noun a series of acts at a night club

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, tap-room, from Middle Dutch cabret, from Old North French camberette, from Late Latin camera, room; see chamber.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French, from Middle Dutch cambret, from Old French camberete, diminutive of cambre ("chamber"), from Latin camera, from Ancient Greek καμάρα (kamara, "vaulted chamber").

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Examples

  • The Dutch are quite keen on what they call cabaret, and the artists known as cabaretiers.

    Cabaret « The expat numbat: from AU to NL 2008

  • The Dutch are quite keen on what they call cabaret, and the artists known as cabaretiers.

    2008 December « The expat numbat: from AU to NL 2008

  • Even more than related musical forms, like jazz, the definition of "cabaret" is constantly changing and eternally subjective, and these two series are at the heart of that debate.

    Celebrate Cabaret (Just Don't Ask What It Is) Will Friedwald 2010

  • The veteran headliner, who has sung in jazz clubs, theaters, concert halls and, most famously, in eight major Broadway shows, feels that cabaret is primarily a "place" and not necessarily a style.

    Celebrate Cabaret (Just Don't Ask What It Is) Will Friedwald 2010

  • Fabrizi was known as a comic actor and Magnani had cut her teeth in cabaret; together they give the film tremendous warmth and heart.

    Rome, Open City: No 22 Cath Clarke 2010

  • She is one of the hardest-swinging jazz vocalists working today, yet Paula West 's career pattern of appearing primarily in cabaret venues like Feinstein' s and the Oak Room underscores that she hardly neglects the lyrics and narrative.

    Hard-Bop, Key Chops And Country Stomps Will friedwald 2010

  • LIANE HANSEN, host: The word cabaret evokes so many images: singers dressed to the nines in elegant nightclubs or dark intimate rooms, cover charges and two-drink minimums.

    Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome: To Cabaret School 2010

  • So anchored in German cabaret music was the Waits-Kronos set that it seemed inevitable that they'd do something by Kurt Weill; Weill and Brecht's "What Keeps Mankind Alive?" was the eventual choice.

    Neil Young's All-Star Lineup 2007

  • Say the word cabaret, and you think straight away of lines of scantily-clad can-can girls kicking their legs in the Moulin Rouge or Folies Bergeres in Paris.

    BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition 2009

  • Turning to the stage, she appeared in German cabaret productions and small films.

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows 2009

Comments

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  • Excerpt from the lyrics to the song "Cabaret" by Fred Ebb from the Musical of the same name.

    No use permitting

    some prophet of doom

    To wipe every smile away.

    Come hear the music play.

    Life is a Cabaret, old chum,

    Come to the Cabaret!

    February 4, 2008