larder

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈlɑː.də/ (UK); /ˈlɑɹ.dɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English,^[2][3] from Anglo-Norman larder (“place for meats”),^[2][4][5][3] corresponding to Old French lardier “tub for bacon”,^[4][5] from Medieval Latin lardārium (“room for meats”),^[2][4][5] from Latin lārdum (“lard, bacon”).^[2][4][5] It is related to lard.^[4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A supply of meat (about 1300)^[4][5] and a room where meat and other provisions are kept (about 1305).^[7]

Semantic evolution

The larder was originally where bacon and salted meats were processed and stored.^[5][7] By the mid-15th century the word also named a department of a royal or monastic household,^[5] and from the 1620s it was used figuratively of any storehouse.^[5][7] The surname Lardner “keeper of a larder” is from the same root.^[5]

Timeline

• about 1300 – a supply of meat.^[4][5]
• about 1305 – a room for meat and provisions.^[7]
• mid-15th century – a household department for stored meat.^[5]
• 1623 – figurative, a storehouse.^[7][5]
• 1919 – the store of prey kept by a shrike.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A room or cupboard where food is stored; a pantry.
2. A supply of food.

Related words

• lard

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press