Originally Posted By: zmjezhd
It's related to the -ist suffix which means amongst other things (1) a person who does something. physicist or (2) a follower of a school, socialist, etc. I felt the common Romance form, -ista, came in from Italian, barista, and means the person who makes espresso and similar coffee drinks. (The bar in barista is from the English bar.


so does "barista" mean "coffee maker" or just plain old "barman" in Italy?