cuisine

American  

[kwi-zeen] / kwɪˈzin /

noun

cuisines plural

1. a style or quality of cooking; cookery.

   Italian cuisine; This restaurant has an excellent cuisine.

2. Archaic. the kitchen or culinary department of a house, hotel, etc.

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cuisine British  

/ kwɪˈziːn /

noun

1. a style or manner of cooking

   French cuisine

2. the food prepared by a restaurant, household, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cuisines
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cuisine cuisines

He called it Palermo and specialized in Sicilian home-style cuisine.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

As part of the programme, Paula McIntyre, who trained in the US and later returned there to present a BBC series on American cuisine, will demonstrate a range of Appalachian dishes.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

Some food historians say it was likely a feature of medieval cuisine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

And as pop music by Calvin Harris and Sean Kingston played over speakers, many huddled in food courts to snack on traditional American cuisine: pizza and burgers.

From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026

Mr. Stone thought it was important to have “local color,” so I convinced him to build Mrs. Soldano a lunch counter where she could serve authentic Cuban cuisine to the tourists.

From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm

Chili peppers are eaten every day by billions of people and are an essential ingredient in cuisines across Asia, Latin America, Africa, and many other parts of the world.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026

The term can include people with roots in dozens of countries from Sri Lanka to China’s border with Russia to Pacific islands, with completely different exposure patterns and cuisines.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026

And there’s its versatility, spanning recipes across seasons and cuisines.

From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026

But cooking a people’s food illuminates how cuisines are shaped by religion, history and geography.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

Inside, happy eaters sat at booths and tables, their plates filled with food foraged from a dozen different cuisines in heaps of each person’s favorites.

From "George" by Alex Gino

Related Words

• cooking
• fare
• meal
• menu