ratatouille
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of ratatouille
Borrowed into English from French around 1875–80
Explanation
A vegetable stew from the Provençal region of France is called ratatouille. Traditionally, ratatouille is made with tomato, eggplant, zucchini, and peppers, as well as onion, garlic, and herbs. A classic ratatouille contains summer vegetables that are native to Provence, where the dish originated. It's a hearty, healthy, and simple stew that can be the main entree or a side dish. The carefully arranged layers of thinly sliced vegetables featured in the 2007 animated film Ratatouille aren't strictly traditional, but this is a dish with many acceptable variations. The word itself stems from the French touiller, "to stir up."
Vocabulary lists containing ratatouille
World Cuisine - Introductory
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World Cuisine - Middle School and High School
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This Week In Words: December 5–11, 2020
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I cooked her ratatouille, and we shared a cheap bottle of wine.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026
In the kitchens of a trendy Madrid dinner theater called Florida Retiro, chef Joaquin Felipe introduced us to pisto manchego, a colorful combination of sautéed summer vegetables that is Spain’s answer to French ratatouille.
From Washington Times • Aug. 29, 2023
Customers can make their own board of conservas, or order something off the menu, such as a tuna sandwich on a baguette stuffed with ratatouille and olive oil-packed tuna.
From Washington Post • Jan. 29, 2023
Titled “Homecoming,” it featured asparagus flan with morel sauce; king salmon confit with orange-braised fennel and ikura; Iberico pork shabu shabu with ratatouille couscous; and “dueling desserts”: mother’s strawberry shortcake, son’s chocolate mousse.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 5, 2022
The ratatouille contained an herb that Anton couldn’t identify. homage.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
