cuisine
Americannoun
-
a style or quality of cooking; cookery.
Italian cuisine; This restaurant has an excellent cuisine.
-
Archaic. the kitchen or culinary department of a house, hotel, etc.
noun
-
a style or manner of cooking
French cuisine
-
the food prepared by a restaurant, household, etc
Etymology
Origin of cuisine
1475–85; < French: literally, kitchen < Vulgar Latin *cocīna, for Latin coquīna; see kitchen
Explanation
Cuisine is a type of food that is cooked in a specific way based on a culture's ingredients, region, and traditions. If you're craving cannoli, a visit to Chinatown doesn't make much sense, since cheese is more characteristic of Italian cuisine. Boiling an egg or flipping burgers on the grill is cooking. But if you want to create cuisine, you need to understand how to prepare the culinary specialties of a particular country or culture. To make Italian cuisine, for example, you'll need to chop garlic, roll out pasta dough, and simmer pots of tomato sauce. When the word "fine" is attached to cuisine, it describes the food at a fancy restaurant that will part you with a good portion of your money.
Vocabulary lists containing cuisine
Eat Your Words
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Passover Vocabulary
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Mardi Gras: Food
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
As you stroll through the area and take pictures, check out the Mexican marketplace, capturing the pottery, clothing and art along the way, and grab some authentic cuisine.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026
"We definitely have a high heat tolerance, which I think makes our cuisine unique. We have a heavy hand when it comes to seasonings, especially Scotch bonnets, which we add to everything."
From BBC • May 31, 2026
Cauliflower and broccoli aren’t the only produce that’s suddenly commanding haute cuisine prices.
From Salon • May 27, 2026
GYG’s U.S. exit underlines the difficulty that operators of quick-service restaurants can face when moving into overseas markets, especially those where their specialty cuisine is already popular and easily available.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
If there had been a grocery store within one hundred miles, believe me, I would have walked there on my own reconnaisance for some cuisine that didn’t still have feet attached to it.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
