entry
curry
/ˈkɝi/Prepare food as sauce; groom a horse; seek favor
From Latin com- (With) + Proto-Germanic *raidaz (Arranged) + Tamil கறி (kaṟi) (Spiced sauce or relish).
from Latin com- (a form of con- (“with; together”)) + a verb derived
from Vulgar Latin *conredare
from Proto-Germanic *raidaz. More at ready.
from Old French correier "put in order, prepare, curry,"
from Anglo-French curreier "to curry-comb a horse,"
from Middle English currayen
from Latin coquere. Earlier cury found in 1390 cookbook Forme of Cury (Forms of Cooking) by court chefs of Richard II...
from Vulgar Latin cocere
from Middle French cuyre (“to cook”) (whence also cuisine)
Word Ancestry
from Latin com- (a form of con- (“with; together”)) + a verb derived
from Vulgar Latin *conredare
from Proto-Germanic *raidaz. More at ready.
from Old French correier "put in order, prepare, curry,"
from Anglo-French curreier "to curry-comb a horse,"
from Middle English currayen
from Latin coquere. Earlier cury found in 1390 cookbook Forme of Cury (Forms of Cooking) by court chefs of Richard II...
from Vulgar Latin cocere
from Middle French cuyre (“to cook”) (whence also cuisine)
One spelling is carrying several passports. In medieval England, to curry meant to rub down a horse, traveling through Old French correier and Anglo-French curreier; the word was tied to the idea of putting something in order, ultimately involving Latin com-, “together,” and a Germanic family related to ready. “To curry favor” is an early-sixteenth-century reshaping of curry favel, literally “groom the chestnut horse,” because the horse Favel belonged to the medieval world of cunning and deceit; the phrase therefore began with a horse, not with polite networking. The food sense took a different route: Middle English cury appears in the 1390 Forme of Cury, while the modern dish sense was influenced by Tamil கறி (kaṟi), alongside cooking vocabulary from French cuyre and Latin coquere. Portuguese and British contact helped carry South Asian curry into a worldwide menu, where the same word can now describe both a simmering sauce and an old-fashioned way of polishing someone’s ego.
The Story
One spelling is carrying several passports. In medieval England, to curry meant to rub down a horse, traveling through Old French correier and Anglo-French curreier; the word was tied to the idea of putting something in order, ultimately involving Latin com-, “together,” and a Germanic family related to ready. “To curry favor” is an early-sixteenth-century reshaping of curry favel, literally “groom the chestnut horse,” because the horse Favel belonged to the medieval world of cunning and deceit; the phrase therefore began with a horse, not with polite networking. The food sense took a different route: Middle English cury appears in the 1390 Forme of Cury, while the modern dish sense was influenced by Tamil கறி (kaṟi), alongside cooking vocabulary from French cuyre and Latin coquere. Portuguese and British contact helped carry South Asian curry into a worldwide menu, where the same word can now describe both a simmering sauce and an old-fashioned way of polishing someone’s ego.
Modern Usage
A derogatory term for a person from India, according to Urban Dictionary usage
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entry for curry
Kin & Kindred
From 'com-'·With, together; sometimes intensifying
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From '*raidaz'·Arranged, prepared
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'கறி (kaṟi)'·Spiced sauce or relish
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'coquere'·Cook
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary