Etymologically
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈmɛn.juː/ (UK); /ˈmɛn.ju/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French menu (“detailed list”), short for menu de repas, list of the meal,[2][3] the noun use of menu (“small, detailed”),[4][2][5] from Latin minūtus (“small”), the past participle of minuere (“to diminish”) (see minute).[4][2] It is a doublet of minute in the sense small.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A detailed list of the dishes to be served at a meal: 1837,[4][2][6] 1830 in MWU.[5] The OED records a single earlier use, in 1658, for the common people, short for French menu peuple.[6][4]

Semantic evolution

Any detailed list is a transferred sense first recorded in 1889.[4][2] The computing sense, a list of options displayed on a screen, is from 1967,[2][6] and menu-driven from 1979.[6] The AHD notes that an enormous menu would be a contradiction if one followed the etymology, since the Latin source meant small and detailed.[7]

Timeline

  • 1658 – the common people (once).[6]
  • 1837 – a bill of fare.[4][2]
  • 1889 – any detailed list.[4]
  • 1967 – a computer menu.[2][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A list of the dishes available in a restaurant or served at a meal.
  2. The food served at a meal.
  3. (computing) A list of options shown on a screen.

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin