Couscous

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkʊs.kʊs/

Definitions

1. A North African grain dish made from semolina that is steamed and traditionally served with meat or vegetable stews
2. A traditional dish originating from North Africa, featuring small steamed granules of semolina wheat often served with a variety of stews or vegetables
3. This dish consists of tiny grains made from semolina that are typically steamed and accompanied by meats or vegetable sauces

Etymology: The word arrived in English by way of French, which had taken it from Arabic "kuskus", and the Arabic form is itself thought to come from a Berber language of North Africa. The dish it names is traditionally made by rolling and steaming moistened semolina, so the grains are small pellets rather than a grain that grows wild. English had the word by about 1593, but it stayed a term for a foreign dish for a long time. Because the word was borrowed twice, its shape reflects two sets of sounds. Arabic "kuskus" is a reduplicated form, the kind of doubled syllable that often marks a food name or a repeated action, and the French and English spellings simply kept it. The repetition is a feature of the source language, not an English addition.