potpourri
noun
Current Biography
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Some people delight in the scent of potpourri, and others find it cloying. Happily, this word manages to contain elements which will make each of these groups feel that their preferences are linguistically supported. Potpourri is used today to refer literally to a fragrant mixture of flowers, herbs, etc., and figuratively to a miscellaneous collection, or medley, of things. But potpourri first referred to a kind of stew of meat and vegetables, usually including sausage and chickpeas. It was borrowed from French, where pot pourri translates directly as “putrid pot”; the French word was a translation of the Spanish olla podrida, which likewise means “rotten pot.” We don't know why both the Spanish and the French gave their stews such unappetizing names, although it has been suggested that the Spanish method of slowly cooking this dish over a fire may have had something to do with it. Regardless, after referring solely to stew for its first hundred and some-odd years, potpourri began to be used for an aromatic blend of dried flowers in the middle of the 18th century, and within the next hundred years was being applied to mixtures and collections of all kinds of things.
Examples of potpourri in a Sentence
Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 13 May 2025
Trump and Republicans are set to include a potpourri of party tax goals in the single package, including potentially making the tax cuts passed in 2017 permanent and eliminating taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security.
—Aris Folley, The Hill, 28 Apr. 2025
The leaves smell like freshly mown hay when crushed and are often dried for potpourri or sachets.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 27 Apr. 2025
Hosted by Dean Cain, Laura McKenzie, Elizabeth Stanton and Montel Williams, Lifelines of Hope offers a potpourri of life saving moments that elicit involvement from ordinary individuals, often risking their own lives to save others.
—Marc Berman, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Potpourri.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/potpourri. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
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potpourri
noun
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