lagniappe

or la·gnappe

[ lan-yap, lan-yap ]

noun

1. Chiefly Southern Louisiana and Southeast Texas. a small gift given with a purchase to a customer, by way of compliment or for good measure; bonus.
2. a gratuity or tip.
3. an unexpected or indirect benefit.

lagniappe

/ lænˈjæp; ˈlænjæp /

noun

1. a small gift, esp one given to a customer who makes a purchase
2. something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus

Word History and Origins

Origin of lagniappe¹

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50; from Louisiana French, from Latin American Spanish la ñapa, la yapa “the addition,” equivalent to la feminine definite article + ñapa, yapa from from Quechua, yapa “that which is added”

Word History and Origins

Origin of lagniappe¹

C19: Louisiana French, from American Spanish la ñapa, from Quechua yápa addition

Example Sentences

“After that it has all been lagniappe,” Jordan added, using a Louisiana French Creole word for a bonus, or extra gift.

From Seattle Times

The point of the encore, he muses, is to give fans that feeling of something memorable, a little lagniappe to heighten the experience.

From Washington Post

The Post offered a lexical lagniappe in the form of “graupel” as reported in the March 27 Metro article “Winter’s remnants linger on Saturday.”

From Washington Post

The directions are precise and most of the recipes include a lagniappe called “playing around.”

From New York Times

The money that gets taxed is mostly what economists call excess returns and what a Louisianian might call lagniappe — profits in excess of what is necessary to motivate investment.

From New York Times