Curry
/ˈkʌr.i/noun
A dish or sauce flavored with a mixture of spices, especially in South Asian cooking.
Did you know?English curry comes through Portuguese and other colonial contact from South Indian and Tamil cooking terms, showing how a food word can be reshaped by empire and trade rather than ancient mysticism.
Etymological Timeline
Tamil (pre-modern)
Tamil
kaṟi
“sauce; relish; side dish”
16th Century
Portuguese
caril
“A sauce or spice mixture encountered in South Asia”
17th Century
English
curry
“A seasoned dish or sauce, especially from South Asian cuisine”
Modern English
English
curry
“A dish or sauce flavored with spices, especially in South Asian cooking”