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.
It contained coffee or some other hot viand.
From The Boy Tar by Read, Edward
Salmon is as nice when it is a shilling a pound as when it is four times that price, and venison is by no means an expensive viand if the market be watched.
From Household Organization by Caddy, Florence
The favourites with the writer are a brave old soldier p. viand his helpmate, an ancient gentlewoman who sold apples, and a strange kind of wandering man and his wife.
From Lavengro The Scholar, The Gypsy, The Priest by Borrow, George Henry
But even the full-grown bird was not too powerful for the digestive organs in those days: it was termed viand royal, and heronries were maintained for the purpose of food, as well as diversion.
From Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 91, July 26, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Various
The others did not join him in this singular viand, although the shikarree assured them that tiger-beef was far superior to the venison of the sambur deer.
From The Plant Hunters Adventures Among the Himalaya Mountains by Reid, Mayne
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.
