omelette

Where does the word "omelette" come from? It comes from Old French lemelle, passing through French before entering English (1600s).

Omelette’s story begins in Old French: lemelle meant “a thin blade or plate.” A thin blade or plate, describing the dish's flat, folded shape. By 1500s, the word had taken hold in French as omelette. Reshaped in French for the folded beaten-egg dish. It reached English by 1600s as omelette. Settled as the English word for the beaten-egg dish. Today, omelette means a dish made of beaten eggs cooked in a pan and folded, often with fillings.

1. Stage 1 · Old French · medieval lemelle "a thin blade or plate", a thin blade or plate, describing the dish's flat, folded shape.
2. Stage 2 · French · 1500s omelette "a folded dish of beaten eggs", reshaped in French for the folded beaten-egg dish.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1600s omelette "a dish of beaten eggs cooked and folded", settled as the English word for the beaten-egg dish.