Puddings

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A sweet or savory dish that has a thick consistency and can be prepared in various ways, often served as a dessert or side dish in different cuisines
2. A creamy or gelatinous food item typically made with ingredients such as milk or sugar, which may be enjoyed as a dessert or a comfort food
3. A soft, often sweet dish that has a thick texture, commonly enjoyed as a dessert or a comforting side, made from varied ingredients like milk, grains, or fruits

Etymology: The plural of "pudding" is simply the word with an -s added, so the real story is the noun itself. Its ancestor was a blood sausage. Around 1305 English borrowed the word from Old French "boudin", meaning blood sausage or black pudding, and that French word came from Latin "botellus", a term for a sausage or small intestine. The two words are doublets, meaning they reached English and French along the same route and split into different forms, which is why "boudin" and "pudding" look so unlike each other. The sausage sense came first. Medieval "podynge" meant a meat-filled animal stomach or sausage, and the sweet, milky desserts we now call puddings only developed as the word moved on from meat. Some dictionaries also offer a Germanic origin, linking the word to a root meaning "to swell", with relatives in dialect words for a belly, a lump, or a black sausage. That theory is not the standard one, and the French connection is the better-supported account.

Synonyms: desserts, sweets