omelet

noun

om·​e·​let ˈäm-lət 

ˈä-mə-

variants or omelette

: beaten eggs cooked without stirring until set and served folded in half

Her omelet had a filling of cheese, peppers, and meat.

Examples of omelet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Breakfast house specialties include a burrito bowl, breakfast enchiladas, and shrimp and grits, but the menu also features all the classics: pancakes, omelets, benedicts, and French toast. —Lydia Mansel, Southern Living, 10 Aug. 2025

For 16 years, this 24-hour diner dished chicken and waffles, omelets, coffee and fresh pastries along the Davie Road drag, but on June 22 owner Toula Amanna closed her retro-fabulous restaurant, liquidating all its kitchen equipment and furniture at a short-notice auction. —Phillip Valys, Sun Sentinel, 31 July 2025

Nopal, de-spined cooked cactus, is available in a scrambled egg plate ($13.95) or omelet ($16.25). —Sacbee.com, 11 July 2025

There are plenty of classic breakfast dishes such as pancakes, eggs Benedict and omelets. —Susan Selasky, Freep.com, 3 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

French omelette, alteration of Middle French amelette, alemette, alteration of alemelle thin plate, ultimately from Latin lamella, diminutive of lamina

First Known Use

circa 1611, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing omelet

• Denver omelet
• Spanish omelet
• western omelet

Rhymes for omelet

• omelette

Kids Definition

omelet

noun

om·​elet

variants also omelette

ˈäm-(ə-)lət

: beaten eggs cooked without stirring and served folded in half

Etymology

from French omelette "omelet," derived from early French amelette, alemette, altered forms of alemelle "omelet," literally, "knife blade, thin plate," derived from la lemelle (same meaning), derived from Latin lamella "a small thin metal plate," from lamina "a thin plate"

Word Origin

Although the word omelet bears little resemblance to Latin lamina, the shape of an omelet does resemble a thin plate, which is what lamina, the ultimate source of omelet, means. The Latin noun lamella, a diminutive form of lamina, became lemelle "blade of a knife" in medieval French. La lemelle "the blade" was misinterpreted as l'alemelle, and so the word gained an initial vowel. In later French, alemelle or alumelle was altered (by substituting the suffix -ette for the suffix -elle) into allumette, which acquired the meaning "dish made with beaten eggs" (such a dish resembling a thin plate or blade). After a later alteration to omelette the word found its way into English.