escargot

noun

es·​car·​got ˌe-ˌskär-ˈgō How to pronounce escargot (audio)
plural escargots ˌe-ˌskär-ˈgō(z) How to pronounce escargot (audio)
: a snail prepared for use as food

Examples of escargot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web November 22nd will introduce Bourgogne wines with escargots and beef Bourguignon. Irene S. Levine, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024 Tempo Urban Bistro 3 courses $55/person Dine-in and takeout An elegant dinner commences with a choice of escargot served with rosemary focaccia, lobster bisque, zucchini fritters or caprese salad. Georgann Yara, The Arizona Republic, 19 Sep. 2024 Go for the escargot but stay for the funky decor and the restaurant's lively staff who will treat you like family. Elise Taylor, Vogue, 16 June 2024 The menu includes mussels, escargots, duck confit and roasted rack of lamb and the backdrop includes much by which to be entertained. Amanda Hancock, The Courier-Journal, 12 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for escargot 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'escargot.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, "snail," going back to Middle French escargol, borrowed from an Old Occitan antecedent of Occitan (17th-century Toulouse) escaragol, (Marseille) escaragóou, (Béarn) escargolh, alteration (perhaps by association with Old Occitan escaravat "scarab beetle" and other descendants of Latin scarabaeus scarab) of Old Occitan carcol "spiral staircase," Occitan (Rhône mouth) kalagou, karagǫu "snail," with parallel forms in Ibero-Romance (Spanish caracol "snail, gastropod, shell of a gastropod, caracole", Portuguese caracol "snail, gastropod," Galician caracó, Catalan caragol "gastropod, something with a spiral shape, helix"), of uncertain origin

Note: The Occitan forms can be explained as metathetic variants of kakaláw "snail, empty nutshell" (Bas-Dauphiné, i.e., western Dauphiné), cacaláou "snail" (Provence), cagarol (Béziers), apparently based on *cocŭlia "shell of a mollusk, nut or egg" blended with another word (see cockle entry 2). However, there is no counterpart to the unmetathesized words in Ibero-Romance, so one would have to accept that caracol, etc., were loanwords from Occitan, a somewhat unusual migration given that this sort of expressive vocabulary would more likely be native and perhaps substratal. It has been hypothesized that the word with which *cocŭlia has been blended is Greek káchlēx "shingle, gravel in a riverbed," though this word has otherwise apparently left no other trace in Romance. Another suggestion is an expressive and/or pre-Romance element *cacar- "shell of a mollusk," an extension of a root *cac(c)-/*coc(c)-, or perhaps more likely *car- "shell." (See J. Hubschmid, "Die Stämme *kar(r)- und *kurr- im Iberoromanischen, Baskischen und Inselkeltischen," Romance Philology, vol. 13, no. 1 [August, 1959], p. 39; J. Coromines, Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, s.v. caracol.)

First Known Use

circa 1892, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of escargot was circa 1892

Dictionary Entries Near escargot

Cite this Entry

“Escargot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/escargot. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

escargot

noun
es·​car·​got ˌes-ˌkär-ˈgō How to pronounce escargot (audio)
plural escargots -ˈgō(z) How to pronounce escargot (audio)
: a snail prepared for use as food

More from Merriam-Webster on escargot

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