viand
Americannoun
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an article of food.
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viands, articles or dishes of food, now usually of a choice or delicate kind.
noun
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a type of food, esp a delicacy
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(plural) provisions
Etymology
Origin of viand
1350–1400; Middle English viaunde < Middle French viande < Vulgar Latin *vīvanda, for Latin vīvenda things to be lived on, neuter plural gerund of vīvere to live
Explanation
A viand is something really delicious. The grilled cheese sandwich at the diner near your house that’s better than any other grilled cheese sandwich in a 400 mile radius? That’s a viand. Viand comes from the Old French word viande, meaning “food.” A viand is something so good you’ll think about it for weeks after you eat it. Your grandmother’s Thanksgiving turkey might be a viand, or maybe the hot chocolate you drink after sledding is a viand. No matter what you consider delicious, you’re lucky if you’re eating a viand.
Vocabulary lists containing viand
Frankenstein
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The Tempest
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"The Pit and the Pendulum," Vocabulary from the short story
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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.
And so, for four months thereafter, we had to do penance for the joke, on that not very luxurious viand "dry porridge."
From My Schools and Schoolmasters or The Story of my Education. by Hugh Miller
The porridge was accordingly prepared; and, when engaged in discussing this familiar viand, a little before midnight—for we had arrived late—a tall Highlander entered the inn, dropping like a mill-wheel.
From My Schools and Schoolmasters or The Story of my Education. by Hugh Miller
Pork is another viand admitted at times to enlarge the table-store.
From Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume II (of 2) A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day by Anonymous
For if all this praise is to be lavished on plain, fresh, immature, roast pig, what adjectives shall we find to do justice to that riper, richer, more subtle and sustaining viand, broiled bacon?
From Days Off And Other Digressions by Henry Van Dyke
My Lord," said I, "it is a fast; I cannot this morning do justice to this delicious viand; it is a fast; I am under a vow.
From Visits To Monasteries in the Levant by Robert Curzon
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.
