à la carte

[ ah luh kahrt, al-uh; French a la kart ]

adjective

1. with a separate price for each dish offered on the menu: Compare prix fixe, table d'hôte.

   dinner à la carte.

2. with a separate price for each item on a list:

   Spa treatments can be booked à la carte, or you can choose one of our packages.

à la carte

/ a la kart; ɑː lɑː ˈkɑːt; æ lə /

adjective

1. (of a menu or a section of a menu) having dishes listed separately and individually priced Compare table d'hôte
2. (of a dish) offered on such a menu; not part of a set meal

Word History and Origins

Origin of à la carte¹

First recorded in 1815–20; from French: literally, “according to the menu”; carte

Word History and Origins

Origin of à la carte¹

C19: from French, literally: according to the card

Example Sentences

“This feels like an a la carte menu,” said one.

From Los Angeles Times

DirecTV also can offer Disney’s streaming services — Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+ — to customers who subscribe to certain packages as well as on an a la carte basis.

From Los Angeles Times

The plaintiffs say that instead of making fans pay for access to every game, the league should have provided a la carte options so subscribers could zero in on a specific team or game.

From Los Angeles Times

The standouts are the a la carte pastries and in-house restaurant The Wandering Goose.

From Seattle Times

Rather than flick through preselected programming, users could select from a variety of choices à la carte, and their tastes would then be reflected in a personalized algorithm, allowing Netflix to collect valuable user data while retaining users with the promise of more content to enjoy.

From Slate