carafe
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of carafe
1780–90; < French < Italian caraff ( a ) < Spanish garrafa, perhaps < dialectal Arabic gharrāfah dipper, drinking vessel
Explanation
Wine is often served in a carafe, a flask, usually of glass or metal, with a wide mouth. It usually presents a more elegant way to serve than using the wine's original bottle or — heavens! — box. While carafes have been used since very early times, the word itself came through Spanish, Italian, and French, probably from the Arabic word gharrafa "ladle, scoop." It entered English by 1786.
Vocabulary lists containing carafe
English Food and Drink Words Derived from Arabic
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Shadowshaper
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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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.
Betts prefers the Zalto Carafe No. 75 to these more decorative ones.
From Slate • Dec. 1, 2018
Characters treading not quite level pine Boards number, first, Carafe, who’s sweating beads Of coolant on her Delft-blue leaves and birds.
From Slate • Nov. 20, 2012
Carafe beside it, but nothing in it but water, you know, and a large, round ball of ice.
From The Haunted Pajamas by Elliott, Francis Perry
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.
