a delicate, frothy mixture made with beaten egg whites and sugar or hot syrup, and browned, used as a topping for pies, pastry, etc.
a pastry or pastry shell made by baking such a mixture, sometimes filled with fruit, whipped cream, etc.
stiffly beaten egg whites mixed with sugar and baked, often as a topping for pies, cakes, etc
a small cake or shell of this mixture, often filled with cream
1700–10; < French méringue; perhaps to be identified with dial. (Walloon) maringue shepherd's loaf, marinde food for an outdoor repast (< Latin merenda light afternoon meal, probably feminine gerund of merere to merit, such a meal being part of a laborer's wages), though certain evidence is lacking; association with the town of Meiringen (Bern canton, Switzerland) is solely by folk etymology
< French < Haitian Creole
Meringue is a very sweet dessert or dessert topping that's made out of egg whites and sugar. Meringue is so light and airy that it melts on your tongue. To make a meringue, you need to beat egg whites with sugar until they're thick and hold stiff peaks. After baking, a good meringue will be delicately crisp on the outside, and soft on the inside. You might like lemon meringue pie, or chocolate meringue cookies. The origin of the word meringue, aside from its birth as the French méringue, is unclear. Meringue was reportedly invented in eighteenth century Switzerland and perfected in Italy.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A cottage pudding with a little shredded orange peel, nuts, or cocoanut in it, or with a chocolate, wine, or méringue sauce, will be an agreeable change from the plain pudding with hard sauce.
From The Century Cook Book by Ronald, Mary
The méringue paste alluded to as used by foreign confectioners is made by beating the white of an egg with a tablespoonful of powdered sugar until stiff.
From Choice Cookery by Owen, Catherine
Currant Water-Ice.—A pint of currant juice, a pint of syrup, and the whites of three eggs made into méringue paste.
From Choice Cookery by Owen, Catherine
Turn the cream out on an earthen dish and cover every part with the méringue.
From Miss Parloa's New Cook Book by Parloa, Maria
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.
