bisque

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɪsk/^[1]

Etymology

Three words are spelled bisque.^[2][3][4] The soup is borrowed from French bisque (“a kind of rich stew”),^[2][5][6][3] of uncertain origin.^[6][7][4] It has been said to come from French Biscaye (“Biscay”),^[2][5] from a cooking pot,^[6] from biscuit because the ingredients were cooked several times,^[6] or from Norman dialect bisque “bad drink”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A rich soup or stew, first spelled bisk (1647 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster; 1640s in Etymonline, meaning a soup pot).^[5][3][6]

Semantic evolution

Early uses suggest that the word may first have been the name of the cooking pot, and it was sometimes rendered “tureen soup”.^[6] The modern puréed soup, especially of shellfish such as crayfish, dates from the mid-19th century.^[6][7] The spelling bisque is recorded from 1731.^[5] A second word bisque, from French, is an advantage given to a weaker player, such as a point taken at will in real tennis (1611), an extra turn in croquet or a stroke in golf;^[8][3][4] the French form biscaye has suggested a link with the Basques' skill at a kind of tennis.^[9] A third bisque is a shortening of biscuit, unglazed white pottery or porcelain (1664),^[8][5][6][3] which also gave the name of a pale pinkish-brown colour (1887 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged; 1922 in the OED).^[10][8]

Timeline

• 1611 – a free point in real tennis.^[8]
• 1647 – bisk, a rich soup.^[5][3]
• 1664 – unglazed pottery.^[8][5][3]
• 1731 – the spelling bisque.^[5]
• mid-19th century – a puréed soup.^[6]
• 1887 – a pinkish-brown colour.^[10]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A thick, rich cream soup made from shellfish, meat or fish, or from puréed vegetables.
2. Ice cream mixed with crushed macaroons or nuts.
3. Unglazed white pottery or porcelain; biscuit.
4. A pale pinkish-brown or orange-yellow colour.
5. An advantage allowed a weaker player, such as a free point in tennis, an extra turn in croquet or an extra stroke in golf.

Related words

• biscuit
• chowder
• consommé

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster