entrepreneur

The word “entrepreneur” means a person who starts and runs a business, taking on its financial risk. In plain terms, someone who builds and runs their own business, taking on the risk that comes with it.

“Entrepreneur” is pronounced on-truh-pruh-NUR (/ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ/ in IPA).

Here is “entrepreneur” used in a sentence: “The young entrepreneur launched three startups before turning thirty.”

“Entrepreneur” is a noun.

The word “entrepreneur” comes from French. Borrowed from French entrepreneur, from entreprendre, "to undertake.".

“Entrepreneur” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.

An entrepreneur starts a business and personally shoulders its financial risk. A business owner is anyone who owns a business, however they came by it — founding, buying, or inheriting it. "Entrepreneur" carries an extra sense of risk-taking and building something from scratch.

A founder is defined by one event: establishing a company. An entrepreneur is defined by an ongoing activity: starting and running businesses while carrying their financial risk. A founder who sells up and never launches anything again remains a founder, while a serial entrepreneur keeps founding.

English borrowed the word directly from French and kept the French spelling, including the -eur ending and the -pre- syllable in the middle that writers often drop. Common misspellings include "entrepenur" and "entreprenuer"; breaking it into entre-pre-neur helps.

An entrepreneur builds a business of their own and bears its financial risk. An intrapreneur behaves entrepreneurially inside a company they do not own, developing new products or ventures with the employer's resources and far less personal risk.