entrée
or en·tree
[ahn-trey]
- a dish served as the main course of a meal.
- Older Use. a dish served at dinner between the principal courses.
- the privilege of entering; access.
- a means of obtaining entry: His friendship with an actor's son was his entrée into the theatrical world.
- the act of entering; entrance.
Show More
Origin of entrée
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
admissionentrancedebutdoorincomingintroductioninaditingressaccessconnectioncontactwayentryinductionimportationExamples from the Web for entree
Contemporary Examples
“He had an entree, and I feel that he was very much embraced by the people that he took pictures of,” Marin Hopper says.
Dennis Hopper’s ‘Lost Album’ Displayed in Original Form at Gagosian New YorkIsabel Wilkinson
May 12, 2013
Instead of slaving over the sauce just before dinner, you can chat with your guests, or concentrate on the entree.
Her salary would have given her entree to the board of any cultural institution she eyed, but she didn't seem to be interested.
Ironically, this coincides with feeling jaded about said entree.
Historical Examples
There were frequently from ten to twelve persons at this first entree.
I have already the entree to the place you desire to get into, and I can introduce you.
In Direst PerilDavid Christie Murray
Did I understand you to say that you have the—the entree at Knightsbridge House?
The Christmas BooksWilliam Makepeace Thackeray
You shall have them the day after the king's entree into Vaux.
The Man in the Iron MaskAlexandre Dumas, Pere
My entree occasioned no little confusion, but I knew well how to remedy that.
Pelham, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
entrée
- a dish served before a main course
- mainly US the main course of a meal
- the power or right of entry
Show More
Word Origin
C18: from French, from entrer to enter; in cookery, so called because formerly the course was served after an intermediate course called the relevé (remove)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for entree
n.
1724, "opening piece of an opera or ballet," from French entrée, from Old French entree (see entry). Cookery sense is from 1759; originally the dish which was introductory to the main course. The word had been borrowed in Middle English as entre "act of entering."
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper