macédoine

noun

ma·​cé·​doine ˌma-sə-ˈdwän 

1

: a confused mixture : medley

2

: a mixture of fruits or vegetables served as a salad or cocktail or in a jellied dessert or used in a sauce or as a garnish

Did you know?

Macédoine is the French name for Macedonia, a region on the Balkan Peninsula that is now part of Greece, the Republic of North Macedonia, and Bulgaria. Historically, this area has been home to a richly varied population encompassing many ethnic groups. Etymologists believe that the cultural heterogeneity of the region may have inspired people to use its name as a generic term for any kind of wildly jumbled mixture. English speakers borrowed "macédoine" early in the 19th century. The word took on its more specific "salad" sense later in the century.

Synonyms

• variety
• medley
• jumble
• salad
• mélange
• ragout
• collage
• patchwork quilt
• patchwork

Examples of macédoine in a Sentence

a quirky secondhand bookstore with a macédoine of out-of-print titles

Word History

Etymology

French, from Macédoine Macedonia; perhaps from the mixture of ethnic groups in Macedonia

First Known Use

1820, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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