| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| beignet |
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| SYLLABICATION: | bei·gnet |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  b n-y  , bny |
| VARIANT FORMS: | also bei·gné |
| NOUN: | Southern Louisiana 1. A square doughnut with no hole: “a New Orleans coffeehouse selling beignets, an insidious Louisianian cousin of the doughnut that exists to get powdered sugar on your face” (Los Angeles Times). 2. A fritter. | | ETYMOLOGY: | French, fritter, of Celtic origin. | | REGIONAL NOTE: | New Orleans, Louisiana, has been a rich contributor of French loan words and local expressions to American English. Many New Orleans words, such as beignet, café au lait, faubourg, lagniappe, and krewe, reflect the New World French cuisine and culture characterizing this region. Other words reflect distinctive physical characteristics of the city: banquette, a raised sidewalk, and camelback and shotgun, distinctive architectural styles found among New Orleans houses.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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