à la carte

[ah luh kahrt, al-uh, a la kart]

adjective

1. with a separate price for each dish offered on the menu.

   dinner à la carte.

2. with a separate price for each item on a list.

   Spa treatments can be booked à la carte, or you can choose one of our packages.

à la carte

/ a la kart, ɑː lɑː ˈkɑːt, æ lə /

adjective

1. (of a menu or a section of a menu) having dishes listed separately and individually priced Compare table d'hôte

2. (of a dish) offered on such a menu; not part of a set meal

Word History and Origins

Origin of à la carte¹

First recorded in 1815–20; from French: literally, “according to the menu”; carte

Word History and Origins

Origin of à la carte¹

C19: from French, literally: according to the card

Example Sentences

While Williams-Sonoma offers a number of complete Thanksgiving dinners for delivery—including one featuring a Cajun-style fried turkey, and another with a honey-glazed ham—the kitchenware and gourmet-food retailer also offers dozens of à la carte offerings.

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The San Francisco company now offers a la carte shopping—a departure from its traditional, stylist-curated subscription-box service—and gives customers more options on the number of items that are in a box, as examples.

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The NBA opted to have its games stream a la carte this season for the first time in the league’s history.

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I believe that investors will pay considerably less for financial advisory services, and will use them a la carte to supplement AI investment strategies, rather than paying a straight percentage fee for assets under management.

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Consultants are charging accordingly, with fees of more than $200 per hour for a la carte services or between $5,000 to $15,000 for someone to manage the entire application process.

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