tureen

American  

[too-reen, tyoo-] / tʊˈrin, tyʊ- /

noun

1. a large, deep, covered dish for serving soup, stew, or other foods.

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tureen British  

/ təˈriːn /

noun

1. a large deep usually rounded dish with a cover, used for serving soups, stews, etc

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Etymology

Origin of tureen

1700–10; earlier terrene < French terrine earthenware dish, Middle French, feminine of terrin of the earth, earthen < Vulgar Latin *terrīnus, equivalent to Latin terr ( a ) earth + -īnus -ine ¹

Explanation

If a waiter brought a big, deep serving dish to your table, removed its lid, and began ladling soup into your bowl, you could confidently call the dish a tureen. A tureen can be made out of earthenware or porcelain or even silver; the most famous tureen — or at least the most expensive — may have been an 18th-century French model that was auctioned off in 1996 for more than ten million dollars.

Example Sentences

A 10-foot canopy shaded guests, while the addition of a hot water tureen allowed people to make coffee, tea and instant cup noodles.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 26, 2023

Servers wheeled in a large silver tureen filled with steaming-hot broth.

From New York Times • Mar. 28, 2022

This arrived in a big tureen, and gosh, was it good.

From The Guardian • Dec. 8, 2019

The kitchen table was laid with homemade bread, butter, jam, a tureen of dried lamb tallow, and a haunch of fermented lamb.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 11, 2018

“That’s too long. She’s Mary from now on. Heat that soup from last night and put it in the china tureen and, Mary, I want you to carry it carefully.”

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

Related Words

• basin
• dish
• pot
• urn