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Origin and history of condiment

condiment(n.)

mid-15c., "a pickling fluid, seasoning, sauce, something used to give relish to food," from Old French condiment (13c.), from Latin condimentum "spice, seasoning, sauce," from condire "to preserve, pickle, season, put fruit in vinegar, wine, spices, etc.," a variant of condere "put together, store," from assimilated form of com "together" (see con-) + -dere "put," from PIE root *dhe- "to put, place."

Related: Condimental. Middle English also had a verb condite (early 15c.) "to season, prepare or preserve with salt, spices, sugar, etc."

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to condiment

salmagundi(n.)

1670s, "dish of chopped meat, anchovies, eggs, onions, with oil and condiments," from French salmigondis (16c.), originally "seasoned salt meats" (compare French salmis "salted meats"), from salmigondin (16c.), a word of uncertain origin.

Watkins derives it from Latin sal "salt" (from PIE root *sal- "salt") + condire "to season, flavor" (see condiment). The French word is probably related to or influenced by Old French salemine "hodgepodge of meats or fish cooked in wine," which was borrowed in Middle English as salomene (early 14c.). French salmi, meanwhile, made its way into English by 1759 for a particular kind of ragout; Century Dictionary describes it as "A ragout of roasted woodcocks, larks, thrushes, or other species of game, minced and stewed with wine, little pieces of bread, and other ingredients to stimulate the appetite."

Salmagundi in the figurative sense of "mixture of various ingredients" is from 1761; it was the title of Washington Irving's satirical publication (1807-08). In dialect, salmon-gundy, solomon-gundy.

con-

word-forming element meaning "together, with," sometimes merely intensive; it is the form of com- used in Latin before consonants except -b-, -p-, -l-, -m-, or -r-. In native English formations (such as costar), co- tends to be used where Latin would use con-.

*dhe-

*dhē-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to set, put."

It might form all or part of: abdomen; abscond; add; affair; affect (v.1) "make a mental impression on;" affect (v.2) "make a pretense of;" affection; amplify; anathema; antithesis; apothecary; artifact; artifice; beatific; benefice; beneficence; beneficial; benefit; betray; bibliothec; bodega; boutique; certify; chafe; chauffeur; comfit; condiment; confection; confetti; counterfeit; deed; deem; deface; defeasance; defeat; defect; deficient; difficulty; dignify; discomfit; do (v.); doom; -dom; duma; edifice; edify; efface; effect; efficacious; efficient; epithet; facade; face; facet; facial; -facient; facile; facilitate; facsimile; fact; faction (n.1) "political party;" -faction; factitious; factitive; factor; factory; factotum; faculty; fashion; feasible; feat; feature; feckless; fetish; -fic; fordo; forfeit; -fy; gratify; hacienda; hypothecate; hypothesis; incondite; indeed; infect; justify; malefactor; malfeasance; manufacture; metathesis; misfeasance; modify; mollify; multifarious; notify; nullify; office; officinal; omnifarious; orifice; parenthesis; perfect; petrify; pluperfect; pontifex; prefect; prima facie; proficient; profit; prosthesis; prothesis; purdah; putrefy; qualify; rarefy; recondite; rectify; refectory; sacrifice; salmagundi; samadhi; satisfy; sconce; suffice; sufficient; surface; surfeit; synthesis; tay; ticking (n.); theco-; thematic; theme; thesis; tradition; traitor; verify.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit dadhati "puts, places;" Avestan dadaiti "he puts;" Old Persian ada "he made;" Hittite dai- "to place;" Greek tithenai "to put, set, place;" Latin facere "to make, do; perform; bring about;" Lithuanian dėti "to put;" Polish dziać się "to be happening;" Russian delat' "to do;" Old High German tuon, German tun, Old English don "to do."