beignet

American  

[ben-yay, be-nye] / bɛnˈjeɪ, bɛˈnjɛ /

noun

• beignets
  plural

1. a fritter or doughnut.

2. French Cooking. any fruit, vegetable, seafood, etc., dipped in batter and deep-fried.

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beignet British  

/ ˈbɛnjeɪ /

noun

1. a square deep-fried pastry served hot and sprinkled with icing sugar

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• beignets
  plural

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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

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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

See Examples For:

beignet beignets

Good idea: Filling your mouth with a warm beignet.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 21, 2021

And if it was up to the new host, it may be in the shape of a powdery beignet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2015

I wouldn’t miss the shops that cropped up like toadstools at our ports, selling their own confused global gumbo — New Orleans coffee and beignet mix in Charleston, “Peruvian spirit animals” in Myrtle Beach.

From New York Times ● Mar. 12, 2015

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

Her skin matches the exact shade of mine—a sugared beignet fresh from the oil, golden brown and glistening under the lantern light.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Her brick-and-mortar business specializes in New Orleans-style shaved ice, called Snoballs, but Monconduit was looking for a cart to serve beignets and soft serve at corporate events and birthday parties.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

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

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

I'm sure people do have beignets in the morning before they set out for Mardi Gras.

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

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