entry
gallimaufry
/ˌɡælɪˈmɔːfri/A confused mixture or absurd medley
From French, ultimately of uncertain origin galimafrée (A hash).
from Old French calimafree (“stew of various kinds of meats”); further etymology uncertain, but possibly
from French galimafrée "hash, ragout, dish made of odds and ends,"
+1 more sourcefrom French galimafrée "hash, ragout, dish made of odds and ends,"
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Old French calimafree (“stew of various kinds of meats”); further etymology uncertain, but possibly
from French galimafrée "hash, ragout, dish made of odds and ends,"
+1 more sourcefrom French galimafrée "hash, ragout, dish made of odds and ends,"
+1 more sourcePicture a medieval cook emptying the leftovers into one pot: bits of meat, sharp vinegar, mustard, ginger, and whatever else needed rescuing. Old French called this sort of culinary improvisation calimafree, later galimafree, and French galimafrée eventually crossed into English as gallimaufry in the 1550s. The word’s deeper recipe is uncertain, though one wonderfully plausible theory combines Old French galer, “to make merry” or “live well,” with Picard mafrer, “to eat gluttonously”—a cheerful invitation to feast greedily. Another suggestion links the second part to Maufré, a personal name, which would make the word’s ancestry even more medieval and mysterious. Either way, a gallimaufry began as a pot of mixed food and ended as a word for mixed anything: a speech, a bookshelf, or the contents of a very untidy desk.
The Story
Picture a medieval cook emptying the leftovers into one pot: bits of meat, sharp vinegar, mustard, ginger, and whatever else needed rescuing. Old French called this sort of culinary improvisation calimafree, later galimafree, and French galimafrée eventually crossed into English as gallimaufry in the 1550s. The word’s deeper recipe is uncertain, though one wonderfully plausible theory combines Old French galer, “to make merry” or “live well,” with Picard mafrer, “to eat gluttonously”—a cheerful invitation to feast greedily. Another suggestion links the second part to Maufré, a personal name, which would make the word’s ancestry even more medieval and mysterious. Either way, a gallimaufry began as a pot of mixed food and ended as a word for mixed anything: a speech, a bookshelf, or the contents of a very untidy desk.
Kin & Kindred
From 'galimafrée'·A hash, ragout, or mixed stew
Derived Terms
English words from this root