macédoine

noun

ma·​cé·​doine ˌma-sə-ˈdwän How to pronounce macédoine (audio)
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.

Examples of macédoine in a Sentence

a quirky secondhand bookstore with a macédoine of out-of-print titles
Recent Examples on the Web Then sleep in a macedoine of wild berries with cream. Dwight Garner, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2023 It was surrounded by a classic macedoine of strawberries with basil. Polly Campbell, Cincinnati.com, 20 June 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'macédoine.' 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

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

First Known Use

1820, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of macédoine was in 1820

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Dictionary Entries Near macédoine

Cite this Entry

“Macédoine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mac%C3%A9doine. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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