lagniappe
Americannoun
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Chiefly Southern Louisiana and Southeast Texas. a small gift given with a purchase to a customer, by way of compliment or for good measure; bonus.
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a gratuity or tip.
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an unexpected or indirect benefit.
noun
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a small gift, esp one given to a customer who makes a purchase
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something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus
Etymology
Origin of lagniappe
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50; from Louisiana French, from Latin American Spanish la ñapa, la yapa “the addition,” equivalent to la feminine definite article + ñapa, yapa from from Quechua, yapa “that which is added”
Explanation
Say you buy a dozen doughnuts and the baker throws an extra cruller in your box. You've just been given a lagniappe, or a small gift from a merchant to a customer. The word lagniappe tells a fascinating American story. Spanish speakers in the New World took a word from the indigenous Quechua language to make la ñapa, meaning "the gift." Then in New Orleans, where Spanish and French mixed freely, la ñapa got Frenchified into lagniappe. In Louisiana it's still used to refer to a bonus from a friendly merchant when you buy something. You could also call any nice little extra a lagniappe.
Vocabulary lists containing lagniappe
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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.
The point of the encore, he muses, is to give fans that feeling of something memorable, a little lagniappe to heighten the experience.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 15, 2022
The money that gets taxed is mostly what economists call excess returns and what a Louisianian might call lagniappe — profits in excess of what is necessary to motivate investment.
From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2021
In his essential book "Imbibe," David Wondrich calls the Sazerac — created in the Crescent City before the turn of the 20th century — "New Orleans' own liquid lagniappe."
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2021
“My way to break down barriers, connect with people, and start to see each other on a human level: a bit of lagniappe, as we say in Louisiana.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2020
Dix sous, madame, an' one lil' piece fo' lagniappe fo' madame's lil' bebe.
From The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Dunbar-Nelson, Alice Moore
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.
