beignet
Americannoun
-
a fritter or doughnut.
-
French Cooking. any fruit, vegetable, seafood, etc., dipped in batter and deep-fried.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of beignet
1830–35, < Louisiana French beignet ( def. 1 ), French beignet ( def. 2 ), Middle French bignet pastry filled with fruit or meat, equivalent to buyne literally, bruise, lump from a blow (of uncertain origin; cf. bunion) + -et -et
Explanation
A beignet is a type of sweet fried dough. New Orleans is famous for its beignets, and the beignet was named Louisiana's official state doughnut in 1986. You could describe a beignet as a small French doughnut. These delicious pastries are made from a yeasted dough—or sometimes a light choux pastry, which uses steam to puff up—that's cut into squares, fried in hot oil, and dusted with powdered sugar while still warm. In New Orleans, where beignets were introduced around 1700 by French immigrants, they're often served for breakfast. Beignet comes from the Old French buigne, "bump or lump," referring to the way the dough puffs into small, golden lumps as it fries.
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.
See Examples For:
The beignet story notwithstanding, Reed’s chapter on passing is one of his least effective.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 4, 2022
“This is how much I like you,” Gadot said as the host picked up a jelly sufganiyot, a cross between a beignet and a jelly donut, served at Hanukkah.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2020
Though a tourist magnet, the beignet symbolizes the city’s French roots.
From New York Times ● Jun. 1, 2016
Nothing new about that, even if the humor has, by now, grown staler than a day-old French Quarter beignet.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 30, 2013
Conversation stretched between them like beignet dough, rising and falling and turning into something new and unexpected.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
McIlroy’s introduction to New Orleans included a sampling of crab beignets from popular restaurant Le Petit Grocery on Wednesday night, a meal he shared with Lowry.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2024
We ate beignets on Bourbon Street and went night swimming.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
The beignets at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen are better than the ones at Royal Street Veranda and made fresh to order.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2023
After eating the beignets, you can take home this bag filled with just powdered sugar and add it to your baking pantry.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2023
The bakery next door had started making beignets for tomorrow morning, filling the stairwell with the smell of melting butter.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
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.
