Potluck

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌpɒtˈlʌk/

Definitions

1. A communal gathering where guests contribute various homemade dishes to share with one another
2. An event where each participant provides a dish for the group, fostering a sense of community and sharing
3. An occasion where attendees each bring a different dish to share in a group meal

Etymology: Before it meant a shared meal of whatever guests bring, "pot" simply referred to the cooking vessel and "luck" to whatever chance happened to provide. Put together, the two words described a meal made from whatever happened to be in the pot, with no fixed menu and no guarantee of what would turn up. The "pot" part is the familiar kitchen vessel, and the "luck" part is the ordinary sense of chance or fortune. Early uses of the phrase reflected that loose idea of making do with what was available, and the meaning gradually narrowed to the modern sense: a gathering where each guest contributes a dish. The word is a plain compound with no single inventor or famous first use to tell. A common assumption links the word to "potlatch," the gift-giving feast of Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, but the Oxford English Dictionary considers that influence unlikely. The resemblance is a coincidence of two English-looking words, not a borrowing.

Synonyms: bring-a-dish, community meal