scallop

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈskɒləp/, /ˈskæləp/ (UK); /ˈskɑləp/, /ˈskæləp/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English scalop, borrowed from Old French escalope (“shell”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} a variant of eschalope,^[3][4] probably of Germanic origin,^[2][3][4][5] related to Middle Dutch schelpe (“shell”) and Old Norse skalpr (“sheath”).^[3][4][5] The sense “thin slice of meat” was influenced by French escalope.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A scallop shell (before 1400), worn as the badge of pilgrims to the shrine of St James at Compostela;^[3][7][4] the shellfish itself is recorded from about 1440.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

The shells of the larger species were used as domestic utensils, and the scallop was the symbol of St James the Great.^[4][7] In the 17th century the name was extended to objects shaped like a scallop shell,^[4][7] especially one of a series of rounded projections forming an ornamental edge (1612).^[7] The verb meant “to bake in a scallop shell or similar dish with breadcrumbs and sauce” (1737)^[7][3][4] and “to cut into scallops” (1749).^[7][3]

Timeline

• before 1400 – a scallop shell, the pilgrim's badge.^[7][3]
• c. 1440 – the shellfish.^[7][3]
• 1612 – one of a series of rounded projections.^[7]
• 1737 – verb, to bake in a scallop-shaped dish.^[7][3][4]
• 1749 – verb, to cut into scallops.^[7][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of various marine bivalve molluscs of the family Pectinidae, with fan-shaped, radially ribbed shells, which swim by clapping their shells together.
2. The edible muscle of such a mollusc.
3. A scallop shell, or a dish of similar shape used for baking and serving seafood.
4. One of a series of curved projections forming an ornamental edge.
5. A thin, boneless slice of meat; an escalope.

Verb

1. To edge with a series of curved projections.
2. To bake in a sauce, usually topped with breadcrumbs, as in scalloped potatoes.
3. To gather scallops.

Word family

• scalloper

Related words

• escalope
• shell
• cockle
• scale

References

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