ketchup

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See also: Ketchup and kétchup

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
A bottle of tomato ketchup.
A bottle of mushroom ketchup.

Alternative forms

Etymology

Uncertain, but probably ultimately from Hokkien 膎汁 (kê-chiap, fish sauce) via Malay kicap, though the precise path is unclear – there are related words in various Chinese languages, and it may have entered English directly from Hokkien Chinese. Cognate to Indonesian kecap, ketjap (soy sauce). Various other theories exist – see Ketchup: Etymology for extended discussion.

First appeared in English in the late 17th century in reference to a Southeast Asian sauce encountered by British traders and sailors. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that it was commonly used in the 18th century to refer to a variety of similar sauces with varying ingredients—"anchovies, mushrooms, walnuts, and oysters being particularly popular"—but by the late 19th century the current tomato ketchup became the most popular form.

Catsup (earlier catchup) is an alternative Anglicization, still in use in the U.S.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkɛt͡ʃ.əp/, /ˈkɛt͡ʃ.ʌp/
  • (file)
  • (file)
  • Homophone: catch-up (one pronunciation)

Noun

ketchup (countable and uncountable, plural ketchups)

  1. (uncountable, chiefly US, Canada, UK) Ellipsis of tomato ketchup. A tomato-vinegar-based sauce, sometimes containing spices, onion or garlic, and (especially in the US) sweeteners.
    Synonym: tomato catsup
    Hypernyms: tomato sauce, red ketchup, red catsup
    tomato ketchup
    This diner serves ketchup in red bottles, and mustard in yellow ones.
  2. (countable, now rare) Such a sauce more generally (not necessarily based on tomatoes, but with mushrooms, fish, etc.). This is the older meaning.
    Hyponyms: tomato ketchup, tomato catsup, fruit ketchup, fruit catsup, corn ketchup, corn catsup, green ketchup, green catsup, yellow ketchup, yellow catsup
    • 1883, Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery, page lxxxiii:
      The bottles, however, were port bottles, but contained mushroom ketchup; []
    • 2003, Inns and Bed and Breakfasts in Quebec 2003, Ulysses Travel Guides, page 46:
      To accompany meat, we prepare fruit ketchups and rhubarb chutney.

Usage notes

The spelling ketchup became significantly preferred in the United States due to the popularity of the Heinz brand, which shortly after its introduction in 1876 switched from catsup to this spelling to distinguish itself from competitors. Other major brands, such as Hunt, subsequently followed, with Del Monte only switching to ketchup in 1988.

This condiment is more commonly and somewhat ambiguously called tomato sauce outside of North America and the United Kingdom. In South Africa, the word ketchup is not generally understood.

Hypernyms

Coordinate terms

common Chinese condiment sauces
condiments commonly paired with tomato ketchup

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

ketchup (third-person singular simple present ketchups, present participle ketchupping, simple past and past participle ketchupped)

  1. (transitive) To cover with ketchup.
    • 1867, John Maddison Morton, Aunt Charlotte's maid: a farce in one act:
      It strikes me she's "ketchupped" the lot! I won't touch a morsel!
    • 1973, Horizon, page 15:
      "Well," said Chuck, ketchupping his hamburger, "I'd rather do without King Lear than put up with the human agony it sprang out of. I'd rather not have the Eroica than have the big bloody conqueror it tries to immortalize."
    • 2009, David Silverman, Twinkle, page 4:
      Their fellow diners, like their ketchupped grub, were appropriately dashed and splattered with paint and plaster, reading their Suns and Daily Mirror.

References

  1. ^ "Ketchup", Oxford English Dictionary (online edition, 2020).
  2. ^ Is There a Difference Between Ketchup and Catsup?”, Slate, Aisha Harris, April 22, 2013

Danish

Etymology

From English ketchup, from Malay kicap, from Hokkien 膎汁 (kê-chiap).

Pronunciation

Noun

ketchup c (singular definite ketchuppen, plural indefinite ketchupper)

  1. (uncountable) ketchup (a tomate sauce with vinegar)
  2. (countable) ketchup (a particular brand or type of ketchup)

Declension

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English ketchup, from Malay kicap, from Hokkien 膎汁 (kê-chiap).

Pronunciation

Noun

ketchup m (plural ketchups, diminutive ketchupje n)

  1. ketchup

Synonyms

Derived terms

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English ketchup, from Malay kicap, from Hokkien 膎汁 (kê-chiap).

Pronunciation

Noun

ketchup m (plural ketchups)

  1. ketchup

Further reading

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English ketchup, from Malay kicap, from Hokkien 膎汁 (kê-chiap, fish sauce).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkɛ.t͡ʂup/, (rare) /ˈkɛ.t͡ʂap/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛt͡ʂup
  • Syllabification: ke‧tchup

Noun

ketchup m inan

  1. Alternative spelling of keczup

Declension

Further reading

  • ketchup in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • ketchup in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Alternative forms

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English ketchup.

Pronunciation

 

Noun

ketchup m (plural ketchups)

  1. (uncountable) ketchup (tomato-vinegar based sauce)

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ketchup.

References

ketchup” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English ketchup.

Noun

ketchup n (uncountable)

  1. ketchup

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

ketchup m (Cyrillic spelling кетцхуп)

  1. Alternative form of kečap

Spanish

Alternative forms

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English ketchup, from Malay kicap, from Hokkien 膎汁 (kê-chiap).

Pronunciation

Noun

ketchup m (plural ketchups)

  1. ketchup

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv
ketchup på köttbullar (meatballs) och makaroner ((elbow) macaroni)
ketchup på pyttipanna

Etymology

From English ketchup.

Pronunciation

Noun

ketchup c

  1. ketchup

Usage notes

Popular and uncontroversial pasta condiment in Sweden.

Declension

Declension of ketchup 
Uncountable
Indefinite Definite
Nominative ketchup ketchupen
Genitive ketchups ketchupens

Derived terms

See also

References

West Frisian

Etymology

From English ketchup.

Noun

ketchup c (no plural)

  1. ketchup