marmite

[ mahr-mahyt, mahr-meet ]

noun
  1. a metal or earthenware cooking pot with a cover, usually large and often having legs.

Origin of marmite

1
1795–1805; <French, Middle French, apparently equivalent to mar(m)-, base of marmotter to mutter, murmur (see marmot) + mite expressive word for a cat; probably originally a jocular or nursery word, a deep, covered pot being thought of as secretive and hence catlike in comparison to an open pan; compare Old French marmite hypocritical

Words Nearby marmite

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use marmite in a sentence

  • The country here was not torn up by marmite holes, or the chasms made by the Big Berthas.

  • Soup needs nothing with it (if you do not choose split pea which needs croutons, or petite marmite which needs grated cheese).

    Etiquette | Emily Post
  • The woman who supports a bully is called his saucepan (marmite), a friend un poteau; ne pas tre mchant means to be a fool.

    The Criminal | Havelock Ellis
  • A petite marmite, please; then Ill see what more I want, she heard herself saying at last.

    Out of the Air | Inez Haynes Irwin
  • La marmite du Grand Guelard has but one outlet, and we are barring it.

    The Count of Nideck | Ralph Browning Fiske

British Dictionary definitions for marmite (1 of 2)

marmite

/ (ˈmɑːmaɪt) /


noun
  1. a large cooking pot

  2. soup cooked in such a pot

  1. an individual covered casserole for serving soup

  2. US military a container used to bring food to troops in the field

Origin of marmite

1
from French: pot

British Dictionary definitions for Marmite (2 of 2)

Marmite

/ (ˈmɑːmaɪt) /


noun
  1. trademark British a yeast and vegetable extract used as a spread, flavouring, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012