Rondelles

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Circular slices of vegetables or other food items, often used as garnishes or ingredients in dishes
2. Discs made from various materials, typically used in crafts or mechanical applications
3. Small rounds employed in various contexts for their shape and size, such as in serving, presentation, or assembly

Etymology: "Rondelles" is the plural of "rondelle", a word that came into English from French, where it means a small round disc. The French word is a diminutive of "rond", meaning round, which descends from Latin "rotundus" with the same sense. The "-elle" ending marks the small size, so the basic idea is simply a little round thing. The surprise is that "rondelle" is a doublet of "redondilla", the Spanish name for a short poetic stanza. Both words came from the same Romance root for roundness, but they took different paths into their languages and came to name very different things: one a disc, the other a verse form. The overlap reflects how the same idea of roundness branched out in Spanish and French.

Synonyms: slices, discs, circles, rounds, circular pieces