entrepreneur
noun
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The Characteristics of an Entrepreneur
You might well wonder whether entrepreneur simply means “a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money” or whether it carries an additional connotation of far-sightedness and innovation. The answer, perhaps unsatisfyingly, is that it can go in either direction.
Entrepreneur has been used in English to refer to a kind of businessman since at least the middle of the 18th century, when it appeared in translation of the King of Prussia’s instructions for his generals (“. . . if the country happens not to abound in forage, you must agree with some Entrepreneur for the quantity required.”). During the 19th century, it was also used of a go-between or a person who undertakes any kind of activity (as opposed to just a business).
By the early 20th century entrepreneur appears to have taken on the connotation of go-getter when applied to an independent business owner, a quality that may also be found in the phrase entrepreneurial spirit, which began being used at about the same time.
Examples of entrepreneur in a Sentence
Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY, 21 Jan. 2025
Treating people complying with the law like criminals will only dissuade entrepreneurs from jumping through all the hoops to operate aboveground.
—Andrew Wimer, Forbes, 21 Jan. 2025
Petro is Trump's choice for interim NASA chief, but the president has someone else in mind for the full job — billionaire tech entrepreneur and private spaceflight veteran Jared Isaacman, whom Trump formally nominated on Monday.
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 21 Jan. 2025
Musk, tapped along with fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to head the Department of Government Efficiency, had prime seating behind Trump’s children and in front of many of his Cabinet nominees.
—Bill Barrow, Chicago Tribune, 21 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Entrepreneur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entrepreneur. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.
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entrepreneur
noun
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