Roasts

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /ɹəʊsts/

Definitions

1. Cooks food, especially meat, by exposure to dry heat ; humorously criticizes or mocks a person, often in a public setting
2. Heats food thoroughly by applying dry heat, usually in an oven or over a fire ; delivers a series of humorous insults aimed at a person in a playful or teasing way
3. Prepares food by slow cooking with dry heat ; pokes fun at someone by making playful or insulting remarks about them

Etymology: The verb "roast" was once a rival of a native English word. Before Middle English speakers adopted it from Old French "rostir", meaning "to roast, to torture with fire", the English used "breden" or "bræden", which survives in German "braten". The French verb had come from Frankish "rōstijan", a term that ultimately traces back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to roast", so the borrowing was a word from one Germanic dialect returning to English by way of France. The French word won out in English, displacing the older native verb, and it also gave English its noun "roste", the thing roasted or the act of roasting. Its close relatives survive across the continent: Dutch "roosten" and German "rösten" both mean "to roast", as does Saterland Frisian "rosterje". "Roasts" is the third-person singular present of the verb and the plural of the noun, so it shares this two-part history: a Germanic word, borrowed into French, then borrowed back into English.

Synonyms: cooks, bakes, grills, toasts, broils