escargot

noun

es·​car·​got ˌe-ˌskär-ˈgō How to pronounce escargot (audio)
plural escargots ˌe-ˌskär-ˈgō(z) How to pronounce escargot (audio)
: a snail prepared for use as food

Examples of escargot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
However, buyers with a toolbox and mechanical chops can join the A110 club for far less, provided one can stuff oneself inside the shell of Alpine’s elegant automotive escargot to enjoy the rewards both rich and rare. —Robert Ross, Robb Report, 1 Nov. 2024 Careful seasoning and spicing is key to the success of dishes like escargots ($17) with plenty of garlic butter and buttery puff pastry and ravioli ($17) with wild mushrooms, pea shoots, a touch of sage and parmigiano. —John Mariani, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024 November 22nd will introduce Bourgogne wines with escargots and beef Bourguignon. —Irene S. Levine, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024 Tempo Urban Bistro 3 courses $55/person Dine-in and takeout An elegant dinner commences with a choice of escargot served with rosemary focaccia, lobster bisque, zucchini fritters or caprese salad. —Georgann Yara, The Arizona Republic, 19 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for escargot 

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, "snail," going back to Middle French escargol, borrowed from an Old Occitan antecedent of Occitan (17th-century Toulouse) escaragol, (Marseille) escaragóou, (Béarn) escargolh, alteration (perhaps by association with Old Occitan escaravat "scarab beetle" and other descendants of Latin scarabaeus scarab) of Old Occitan carcol "spiral staircase," Occitan (Rhône mouth) kalagou, karagǫu "snail," with parallel forms in Ibero-Romance (Spanish caracol "snail, gastropod, shell of a gastropod, caracole", Portuguese caracol "snail, gastropod," Galician caracó, Catalan caragol "gastropod, something with a spiral shape, helix"), of uncertain origin

Note: The Occitan forms can be explained as metathetic variants of kakaláw "snail, empty nutshell" (Bas-Dauphiné, i.e., western Dauphiné), cacaláou "snail" (Provence), cagarol (Béziers), apparently based on *cocŭlia "shell of a mollusk, nut or egg" blended with another word (see cockle entry 2). However, there is no counterpart to the unmetathesized words in Ibero-Romance, so one would have to accept that caracol, etc., were loanwords from Occitan, a somewhat unusual migration given that this sort of expressive vocabulary would more likely be native and perhaps substratal. It has been hypothesized that the word with which *cocŭlia has been blended is Greek káchlēx "shingle, gravel in a riverbed," though this word has otherwise apparently left no other trace in Romance. Another suggestion is an expressive and/or pre-Romance element *cacar- "shell of a mollusk," an extension of a root *cac(c)-/*coc(c)-, or perhaps more likely *car- "shell." (See J. Hubschmid, "Die Stämme *kar(r)- und *kurr- im Iberoromanischen, Baskischen und Inselkeltischen," Romance Philology, vol. 13, no. 1 [August, 1959], p. 39; J. Coromines, Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, s.v. caracol.)

First Known Use

circa 1892, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of escargot was circa 1892

Dictionary Entries Near escargot

escarbuncle

escargot

escargotiere

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Escargot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/escargot. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.

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escargot

noun
es·​car·​got ˌes-ˌkär-ˈgō How to pronounce escargot (audio)
plural escargots -ˈgō(z) How to pronounce escargot (audio)
: a snail prepared for use as food

More from Merriam-Webster on escargot

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about escargot

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