Souses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. To soak in liquid for flavor enhancement
2. To cook in a solution of seasoned liquid, often resulting in a tenderized dish
3. A term indicating the act of immersing food in a marinade or brine for preservation or taste

Etymology: "Souses" is the third-person singular form of "souse," so it is the verb's present tense, and the noun here is the soaking itself. The verb descends from Old French "sous," meaning "preserved in salt," which came from a Frankish word for brine, "sultija," whose Proto-Germanic ancestor meant "saltwater." The same root survives in Old High German "sulza," also "brine," so the notion of soaking food in salty liquid runs very deep in the family of words. Middle English used "souse" both as a verb for salt pickling and as a noun for pickling liquid, and it was also applied to pickled pig parts, such as ears and feet. Over time the sense widened from preserving food in brine to any soaking in a seasoned liquid, which is how the noun reached the marinade sense given here.

Synonyms: dips