the.com/canteen
part dining hall, part survival flask, fully where empires fed their hungriest hordes
means A canteen is either a small portable water container carried by soldiers and hikers, or a cafeteria-style dining facility found in workplaces, schools, or military bases.
from From the French 'cantine,' meaning a sutler's shop or stall where soldiers bought provisions, which in turn likely came from the Italian 'cantina,' a cellar or wine vault — itself probably from 'canto,' a corner or nook where things were stored. So the word travels from a quiet cellar corner, up through the merchant's army stall, and finally splits in two: the soldier's flask and the institutional dining hall, both descendants of the same humble store of supplies.
- origin
- From Italian cantina, meaning wine cellar
- war ration
- Soldiers' canteens carried water across centuries of battlefields
- double life
- Same word means cutlery box in some homes
- factory roots
- Industrial canteens fueled the smoke-belching workforce of revolutions
south london press canteen — historic fleet street pub where journalists gathered from 1969-2005
factory records canteen — manchester nightclub/social space run by tony wilson from 1978 onward
cern canteen — particle physics lab cafeteria in geneva where higgs boson scientists ate
alcatraz prison canteen — dining facility where inmates ate during the 1934-1963 federal penitentiary operation