English 'entrepreneur' was borrowed directly from French, where it means 'one who undertakes,' from 'entre-' (between) + 'prendre' (to take, from Latin 'prehendere,' to seize) — literally 'one who seizes an opportunity between,' and the German calque 'Unternehmer' shows that the metaphor of 'under-taking' risk is pan-European.
A person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.
From French 'entrepreneur' (one who undertakes), agent noun from 'entreprendre' (to undertake), from Old French 'entre-' (between, from Latin 'inter') + 'prendre' (to take, from Latin 'prehendere,' to seize). PIE root *ghend- (to seize, to take). The French economist Jean-Baptiste Say (c. 1800) and later Joseph Schumpeter gave the term its specific economic