meringue

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French meringue. Historically, it was believed that meringue was invented in and named for the Swiss village of Meiringen, but the term is now thought to derive instead from Middle Dutch meringue (“light evening meal”), of unclear origin:

• perhaps from Latin merenda (“light evening meal”), or
• perhaps from Middle Dutch *meren (“to dip or soak bread”), from Old Dutch *meren, itself of unclear origin:
  • perhaps from Proto-Germanic *marjaną (“to grind, pound”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to rub, pack”).
  • perhaps from Proto-Germanic *marhin (“soup of bread and wine or water”), from Proto-Indo-European *mark-, *merk- (“wet”).

Compare Middle Low German meringe (from mern (“to dip bread in wine”)), Middle High German merunge (from mëren (“to soak bread in wine or water for dinner”)), Old English merian (“to purify, cleanse, test”). Doublet of merengue.

Pronunciation

• enPR: mə-răng', IPA^(key): /məˈɹæŋ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋ

Noun

meringue (countable and uncountable, plural meringues)

1. A mixture consisting of beaten egg whites and sugar which is added to the tops of pies then browned.

   The key to a good baked Alaska is the meringue topping.

2. A shell made of this mixture which serves as the receptacle for fruit, ice cream or sherbet.

   Shirley likes to have strawberry with her meringue.

   • 1900 December – 1901 August, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter XIII, in The First Men in the Moon, London: George Newnes, , published 1901, →OCLC, page 150:

     It had the same laxness in texture that all organic structures seem to have upon the moon; it tasted rather like a gauffre or a damp meringue, but in no way was it disagreeable.

Derived terms

• French meringue
• Italian meringue
• lemon meringue pie
• meringue glacé
• Swiss meringue

Translations

Verb

meringue (third-person singular simple present meringues, present participle meringuing, simple past and past participle meringued)

1. (cooking, transitive) To prepare as a meringue dish.

See also

English Wikipedia has an article on:

meringue

Wikipedia

• stiff peaks

References

French

Etymology

From Dutch meringue, itself from Latin or Proto-Germanic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mə.ʁɛ̃ɡ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophones: meringuent, meringues

Noun

meringue f (plural meringues)

1. meringue

Verb

meringue

1. inflection of meringuer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “meringue”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.