tureen

American  

[too-reen, tyoo-] / tʊˈrin, tjʊ- /

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

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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

See Examples For:

tureen

A secondhand soup tureen shaped like a cabbage?

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

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

Perched sideways in space, held high by her partner like a tureen on a tray, Isabella Boylston gazed merrily into the audience of American Ballet Theatre’s “Don Quixote.”

From Washington Post ● Apr. 1, 2022

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

From New York Times ● Mar. 28, 2022

The third and last tureen was chock-full of baked beans.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

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Related Words

• basin
• dish
• pot
• urn

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