porridge

Where does the word "porridge" come from? It comes from Frankish pot, passing through Old French before entering English (1500s).

Porridge’s story begins in Frankish: pot meant “cooking pot.” A Germanic word for a cooking vessel, which gave French 'potage', what is cooked in a pot. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as potage. Vegetables or meat stewed in a pot. It reached English by 1500s as porridge. 'potage' became 'pottage', then 'porridge'; oat porridge dates from the 1600s, and British slang 'doing porridge' means prison time. Today, porridge means a hot dish of oats boiled in milk or water.

1. Stage 1 · Frankish · ancient pot "cooking pot", a Germanic word for a cooking vessel, which gave French 'potage', what is cooked in a pot.
2. Stage 2 · Old French · medieval potage "thick soup", vegetables or meat stewed in a pot.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1500s porridge "vegetable soup", 'potage' became 'pottage', then 'porridge'; oat porridge dates from the 1600s, and British slang 'doing porridge' means prison time.